The ruined office lay beneath the smiling moon.
Dust drifted through the fractured ceiling.
Broken concrete creaked.
Scattered surgical instruments reflected the moonlight.
Near the center of the room...
Raya remained lying motionless.
His breathing was shallow.
Blood keep flowing from Raya's abdomen.
Unleashing Tempest Roar had emptied Raya's strength.
"..."
Silence answered.
Not far away...
The pile of rubble shifted.
Crimson thread emerged.
Then another.
Dozens followed.
Like veins searching for a heart.
The threads gathered around Estelle's body.
Soft crimson light pulsed beneath torn flesh.
Bones aligned.
Muscles reformed.
Skin slowly stitched itself together.
Not perfectly.
Not instantly.
Yet steadily.
"Hehe..."
A quiet laugh escaped Estelle's lips.
Her crimson eyes slowly opened.
"As I thought..."
"The moon love us all equally."
Estelle gracefully pushed herself upright.
As if awakening from a pleasant dream rather than surviving a devastating attack.
The crimson threads danced around her like ribbons.
Behind her...
Raya never moved.
His unconscious body remained still.
Raya's battle...
Was over.
───
A familiar chime echoed inside Kai's mind.
[Notification]
Corrupt Human has been detected.
Objective: 0/1 Eliminate the Corrupt Human.
Reward:
- 1000 EXP
- Rune
Failure: -
Kai didn't even glance at the message.
Kai's gaze never left Estelle.
"..."
The world became silent.
Then—
White flames erupted.
Not from Kai's hands.
Not from the weapon.
But from Kai's entire body.
The pale fire wrapped around Kai like living determination.
It burned quietly.
Without heat.
Without smoke.
Yet burning furiously.
Even the surrounding crimson threads shrank away.
Estelle blinked.
"My..."
"My..."
"What a frightening expression."
Kai slowly raised up.
Kai's eyes no longer trembled.
They had become completely empty.
Only rage remained.
"I'll..."
The White Flame intensified.
"KILL YOU!"
───
Estelle smiled.
"So emotional."
"I wonder..."
"Will your flame burn brighter..."
"...or will your hatred consume you first?"
Kai answered with movement.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
BOOM!
The floor exploded beneath Kai.
Kai vanished.
Estelle barely crossed her arms before Kai's fist arrived.
The impact launched Estelle through three shattered walls.
Stone erupted outward.
Estelle landed gracefully.
Sliding across broken tiles.
"Oh?"
Estelle looked at her sleeve.
"Look what you've done."
"I barely fixed it."
The crimson threads continue burning...
The White Flame spread silently.
Every crimson strand it touched became pale ash.
"Interesting."
"So this is your Gift."
Kai was already behind Estelle.
Another punch.
Estelle twisted away.
A kick followed.
Estelle blocked.
The instant their bodies touched—
White flames spread onto Estelle's arm.
The threads covering her wrist dissolved immediately.
Estelle clicked her tongue.
"So troublesome."
Hundreds of crimson threads erupted from Estelle's fingertips.
It rushed toward Kai.
Like serpents.
Kai stepped forward instead of retreating.
Before the thread could touch Kai.
White Flame simply burned it instantly.
No explosion.
No resistance.
Only silent disappearance.
Ash drifted through the air.
Estelle's smile faded slightly.
───
Minutes passed.
Neither side stopped moving.
Kai abandoned defense entirely.
Every strike carried overwhelming determination.
Every missed punch shattered another section of the ruined office.
Estelle retaliated with perfect precision.
Scalpels flashed.
Needles pierced the air.
Threads attempted to bind Kai's limbs.
Kai's White Flame devoured each threads.
But Estelle remained dominant.
Every dodge was measured.
Every counterattack landed exactly where it should.
Thin cuts accumulated across Kai's arms.
Shoulder.
Face.
Blood stained Kai's clothes.
Yet Kai never slowed.
───
Their battle shook the ruined hospital.
Concrete collapsed.
Hallways split apart.
Windows shattered.
Still...
No one came.
No screams.
No footsteps.
No desperate survivors.
Only silence.
Estelle suddenly stepped backward.
She tilted her head.
"Tell me..."
"Don't you find it strange?"
Kai's stopped.
Hesitated.
"...What?"
"All this noise."
"Our little battle."
Estelle spread her arms.
"We've practically torn the hospital apart."
She smiled.
"And yet..."
"No one came."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"...What do you mean?"
Estelle laughed softly.
"Because..."
"All of them are dead."
Silence.
Kai's heartbeat skipped.
"What..."
"All the guards."
"Every patient."
"Every survivor."
"Every frightened soul hiding inside those rooms."
"Had already fulfilled their purpose."
Estelle pointed toward the broken corridors.
"Each room..."
"Has become part of the ritual."
Kai's breathing became heavier.
"No..."
"The lobby."
"The wards."
"The emergency hall."
"The operating rooms."
"They're all the same."
"Bodies arranged beneath crimson ritual."
"The Director."
"The nurses."
"The families."
"Even the children."
"Everyone."
"...is dead."
Estelle smiled beautifully.
"You!"
Estelle pointed toward Kai.
"...you."
Then pointed toward Raya.
"And your unconscious friend..."
"...are the only ones left."
Kai stood frozen.
Faces flashed through his mind.
The children happily playing.
The nurses who smiled despite everything.
And those individuals clinging for hope.
Gone.
Every single one.
Dead.
The White Flame trembled.
Not from weakness.
But from fury.
───
Kai disappeared.
BOOM!!
Estelle barely reacted.
Kai's fist struck Estelle chest.
Crack.
Several ribs shattered.
Before Estelle could recover—
Another punch.
Another.
Another.
The White Flame spread across Estelle's wounds.
Crimson regeneration slowed.
Ash drifted from her body.
For the first time...
Estelle grimaced.
"...How unpleasant."
Estelle retaliated with a barrage of crimson threads.
Thousands erupted.
They covered the ceiling.
Walls.
Floor.
Every direction.
Kai became surrounded.
Yet Kai simply extended one hand.
"White Burn!"
With a flick of a finger.
Swoosh...
White Flame expanded.
A silent tide.
Everything it touched vanished into white ash.
The crimson web collapsed.
Estelle clicked her tongue.
"Your flames truly are..."
"Annoying."
All threads vanished into ashes.
───
The smiling moon hung overhead.
Watching.
Waiting.
Neither looked away.
Neither retreated.
Then—
A familiar sound echoed once more.
[Notification]
Time Remaining: 00:00:00
...
Searching...
...
A suitable vessel had been selected.
Initiating...
Nightmare Rebirth.
[Warning]
External interference: [Enlightened Moon]
Nightmare Rebirth Updated.
[The Birth of the Enlightened Moon's Child]
- Moonlight Flōres
The battlefield froze.
Even Estelle stopped smiling for a moment.
Then she looked upward.
"So..."
"It's finally the time."
Estelle lightly leaped backward.
Landing atop the ruined wall.
Below the wall...
The Director's severed head remained embedded within a crimson ritual.
Its empty eye sockets reflected the moon.
Estelle spread both arms.
Her crimson threads fluttered around her like wings.
"Witness!"
"The birth..."
"...of the Enlightened Moon's child!"
_______
Far beyond the hospital—
A single bell rang.
Chimes...
Its sound crossed around the hospital.
Ding...
Softly.
Then Another.
Ding...
Dark streets awakened.
One by one...
Eyes opened within the darkness.
Countless Nightmares lifted their heads toward the smiling moon.
The Corrupt.
The Blooming Human Carcasses.
The Crawlers.
The Watchers.
Shapes unseen by ordinary eyes.
Hundreds...
Then thousands...
Then what seemed like an endless tide.
They emerged from ruined buildings.
From underground tunnels.
From abandoned streets.
Standing in absolute silence.
Every creature faced the same direction.
Toward the hospital.
Until the hospital is surrounded with glowing crimson eyes.
Above them, the smiling moon glowed brighter than ever.
As though welcoming the birth of a catastrophe.
Kai stood.
Kai slowly lifted his head.
The White Flame surrounding him roared higher.
Kai's fists tightened.
Whatever was about to be born...
Kai is determined to kill every Nightmare.
Even if it meant burning everything down to ashes.
To be continue...