Erold opened his eyes to find himself lying on cold, hard ground, submerged in an eerie silence. He rose heavily, brushing the gray sand from his clothes, then began looking around in an attempt to grasp his new surroundings. Fog enveloped the area like a heavy shroud, and through it emerged the skeletons of ruined stone houses, scattered like the remains of a civilization swallowed by oblivion.
Arthur suddenly appeared, floating anxiously beside Erold’s head. "What is this terrifying place?"
"And do you think I know, Arthur?" Erold replied.
Arthur shook his head in confusion. "You're right... so what do we do? Let’s explore the place."
Erold began to penetrate the deserted city, taking cautious steps over the broken stones, while Arthur floated around him. The silence was so profound that Erold could hear his own heartbeat, causing him to whisper, "I don't think there is anyone here."
Suddenly, Arthur stopped in his tracks. His translucent eyes widened as he stared at the corner of a collapsed house. He let out a muffled shriek that made Erold jump. Erold turned to him coldly: "Hahaha, amusing, Arthur. You won't scare me that way."
Arthur replied with intense tension and a serious tone: "No... no... I saw something behind that house, like a transparent man with glowing eyes looking at us."
Erold burst out laughing as he continued walking. "What a description, Arthur! Well done, I almost believed you."
Arthur rushed in front of him, shouting angrily: "You fool! I’m not lying. Didn't you feel anything?"
Erold shrugged indifferently. "No, I didn't."
Amidst the dense fog, Erold spotted a young Jinn girl watching him from afar with a disturbing stillness. He called out to her in a voice he tried to keep calm: "Hello, we are strangers here. Is there anyone else but you in this place?"
She didn't answer; instead, she turned and disappeared into the bowels of the fog. Arthur snapped angrily, "Don't say 'we', you idiot! She can't see me. You scared her off, and she probably thought you were a madman!"
Erold followed her quickly into the mist. He entered only to be surprised: he found Jinn moving silently as if they were phantoms. Shocked, Erold looked at them and said, "Hello." No one answered.
Erold stepped forward, waving his hand in front of them, but to no avail. Erold lost his temper and said, "Fine, you answer me." He reached out to grab someone's arm forcefully.
In that moment, the unexpected happened; everyone stopped suddenly and turned toward Erold with featureless faces, letting out a collective, sharp scream that tore through the silence of the place. Arthur shouted in terror, "We're sorry! Apologize, Erold!" and in the blink of an eye, everyone vanished like smoke.
Erold looked around and glimpsed a strange face watching him from the window of a nearby house. Erold shouted as he ran toward it: "You there, stop!"
He burst into the house, shouting: "You can't escape!"
But shock was waiting for him; the house was completely empty of any trace of life. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind him with a force that shook the walls. Arthur shouted in panic: "Erold, I'm scared! Dante, do something!"
Dante replied from the darkness in a voice dripping with sarcasm: "What a beautiful show!"
Erold smiled defiantly. "What? Do you think closing a door will scare me?"
Erold went to open the door, only to find something strange amidst the fog: people with white faces and bodies that blended human and Jinn, moving oddly. He closed the door quietly and said mockingly: "Now something's happening!"
The place shook violently, and Erold laughed with exhilaration: "Finally! Come, let's talk in the language I understand... the language of combat!"
Dante laughed inside him: "Well done, you're starting to understand, boy."
Suddenly, a terrifying scream echoed behind him. He turned and covered his ears as something strange began to form on the wall. The wall began to crack, and a giant misty figure materialized from it—a massive human-like ghost. The creature protruded from the thick fog, its large arms extended forward as if trapped inside the wall. Its face was pale, shining with terrifyingly white glowing eyes, and its mouth was wide open in a massive, silent scream, reflecting a horror that could not be heard but tore through the air.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Erold drew his sword and said, "I don't care what you are, man. Killing you will be easier than understanding you."
As Erold stepped forward to attack, he heard a girl's voice shouting: "Stop, intruder!"
Erold stopped and looked around, searching for the source of the voice, shouting in wonder: "Who is speaking?"
A soft, childish voice reached him, yet it was weighted with years of sadness: "I am Lori, one of the Jinn. You are an uninvited intruder here. Get out of this place before it swallows you!"
Erold replied in a booming voice: "I would actually like to leave, but tell me... what happened to this place?"
Lori said in a deep voice echoing between the eroded walls: "A curse has struck us, and we are being punished for our actions."
Erold asked in amazement: "And what did you do to deserve this?"
Lori’s voice dropped to a terrifying whisper: "We are the ones who lit the last fuse for Destruction to be born from it. We are the cause of many deaths. I am the one who made Ion what he is."
Erold trembled and asked: "What did you do? And who is this Ion?"
Lori shouted in despair: "I am the one from whose betrayal Destruction was born. This place is cursed; get out before you become one of us!"
Arthur shouted in terror: "Please Erold, let's leave here!"
Lori said in a faint voice: "Everyone is being punished for their deeds. They are doing the same thing over and over for their great sin."
The room door opened forcefully, revealing a scene to Erold: Jinn fighting each other, while a boy with an unclear appearance stood in the center, flames burning around him. He said in a tone drowned in sad coldness: "Please.... I don't want to do this again!"
But the screams of greed were louder than his pleas; the Jinn shouted as they exchanged stabs: "We don't care! Whoever wins this fight will get your heart and your power, boy. You are far weaker than they described you!"
The Jinn were falling one after another, heedless of death, greedy for the power latent within that small body. Meanwhile, a girl stood atop a house looking at the boy in the center. The boy raised his gaze toward her and called out in a voice as cold as frost despite the fire surrounding him: "Lori.... it's me!"
But the reply came like a poisoned dagger; Lori looked at him with contempt and said in a decisive tone: "Die, O source of evil, or should I call you by your name.... Ashura!"
The blood froze in Erold's veins, and he took a step back, whispering in daze: "Wait, what? Is that child Ashura?"
A violent misty wave blew, sweeping Erold away from the scene of the massacre and throwing him into the middle of a thick forest drowned in mystery. A deep voice echoing among the trees reached his ears: "You can get out of this hell. Do not join it."
Erold advanced with heavy steps, stunned by what he saw, then turned back to see the city vanishing and being destroyed in total silence. He shouted with amazement on his face: "My God! What kind of silent hell is this? What kind of torment are they living?"
The young Ashura’s voice echoed, muttering in a tone close to death itself: "You spoke the truth, Har…"
Suddenly, imaginary screams echoed in the air: "Please Ashura, don't do this!" Invisible blood flew across the horizon, and the fog disappeared completely.
That strange creature appeared among the trees, looking at Erold and pointing with his hands: "This way."
Erold smiled a strange smile tinged with sadness: "Thank you." Then, with a serious face: "I will find a solution for your curse, I promise you this!"
Erold headed into the forest to leave the city he described as "Silent Hell."
Arthur emerged trembling: "My God, how terrifying that was!"
Erold continued walking and muttered sadly: "Those are spirits are truly pitiful."
Dante burst out laughing inside him: "Idiot!"
Erold flew into a rage: "Damn you, Dante! Be useful for once or shut up!"
Dante replied in a serious and stern tone: "Every day I realize you are a fool who doesn't deserve the power he carries. Haven't you understood yet?"
Erold replied calmly: "What do you mean?"
Dante said mockingly: "You possess the power to collect the souls of the Jinn, or anyone who made a contract with them. Haven't you understood yet?"
Erold stood in shock, his limbs freezing: "Dante, do you mean...?"
Dante answered enthusiastically: "Yes, this is a treasure you cannot miss. True, it won't make you overwhelmingly powerful, but it will certainly be a source to boost your strength."
Erold muttered in confusion: "Can I absorb them? Shouldn't I kill them?"
Dante replied coldly: "You are the one who sets the laws for yourself. Go and receive your treasure, Erold."
With a hesitation mixed with determination, Erold turned back toward the cursed city. As soon as his feet touched its ground, Lori appeared behind him, saying sadly: "So you’ve come to join us?"
Erold smiled a tender smile: "No... I came to release you. It seems fate placed me here for this reason, little one."
Erold closed his eyes and surrendered to Dante's voice which was guiding him: "Now try to imagine this entire city being attracted to you... make your body the reservoir for these wandering souls."
The fog began to swirl around Erold in a violent vortex. The warriors who were tearing each other apart stopped suddenly and were drawn toward Erold like a magnet.
In that moment, what Erold did not expect happened; the small boy who was standing in the middle of the burning fire looked at him, and a smile of salvation formed on his face. The boy cast a final look at the cursed crowd, and everyone submitted to him, heading toward Erold like a flood of pale light. The fire around the boy began to die down. While the souls were flowing into Erold's body, the child smiled a final peace before vanishing and dissolving into the air, freed from his eternal prison.
Lori stood before Erold, her eyes drowned in tears of long-overdue regret. She no longer looked at him as an intruder, but as a final savior. She whispered in a trembling voice before she too was drawn into his body: "Stop Ion.. please!"
Erold absorbed the last atom of her existence, and in that moment, he felt as if mountains of sorrow had settled upon his shoulders. His heart tightened from the intensity of the fatigue and spiritual pressure; his knees gave way, and he fell unconscious upon the dust of the city, which had now become a dead wasteland.
In the depths of his darkness, Dante's ecstatic laugh reached him as he said in a tone full of pride: "Finally, you had the courage to do something right."