CHAPTER 223: 222. SILENCE

The monstrous beast which was once her mother lunged at Tama again.

Tama stood frozen, eyes wide, lips trembling. No... it couldn’t be. She’d finally found her. Her mother—the woman she remembered only in dreams. The one who had given everything to save her.

Tears streaked down her cheeks, but the beast showed no mercy.

With a savage swipe, its claws raked across Tama’s ribs. Flesh tore open. Blood sprayed like crimson rain as she screamed in agony, stumbling backward. But the blows didn’t stop. The beast struck again, its talons carving deeper, cracking bone, until her knees buckled beneath her.

"Mama..." she whispered in a daze, her vision blurring. Her voice trembled like a dying prayer, repeated over and over as the creature tore into her. Hades laughter could be heard echoing through the entire farm.

Asher clenched his fists, his jaw grinding with fury. Watching Tama, his servant being tossed like a rag doll, beaten, broken... it made his blood boil. Yes, she had betrayed him. Lied. Hid the truth. But this?

This was unbearable.

"TAMA!!!" he roared. "SNAP OUT OF—AARGH!!!"

Pain cut him off.

Hades had snapped his fingers. The enslavement collar around Asher’s neck ignited like molten iron, crushing his throat. His voice cracked into silence. He gasped, choking, eyes bulging. All he could do now was scream inside.

System! What’s the hold up! Why the hell are you so damn slow?!

***

Flashback – Four Years Ago

It had been a day like any other in their quiet hideout behind the bushes—a poor excuse for a home, but it was peaceful. No food. No warmth. Just love.

Tama, five years old, sat nestled in her father’s lap, giggling as her mother stirred a pot of watery broth. Their smiles—brief, tired, but genuine—lit that little space with hope.

Then they came.

Men in black. Assassins. Faces hidden behind balaclavas. Voices like death.

"Kill them all. They bring bad luck."

It began in an instant.

The sky turned white. Screams ripped through the forest. The assassins knew their prey well—knew of their clan’s gift to shadow-step. So they took the shadows away.

The entire forest froze.

A wave of unnatural ice swept through the trees. Bark cracked and split with sickening groans. Branches shattered like glass. Homes turned to brittle sculptures of frost, collapsing under the weight of the cold.

Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

Tama’s father clutched her tight and burst through the ruined doorway, his wife sprinting close behind. But death was faster.

One of the masked assassins peeled away from the others—silent, precise, relentless.

Tama’s heartbeat thundered in her ears. Her father’s grip was firm, but his steps faltered as his breath labored. Legs beginning to feel heavy.

Then he stopped. Dropped to one knee.

"Run!" he roared, setting Tama down. "Run, Tama! Run and never stop!"

She didn’t want to. But his eyes—filled with both fear and love—left her no choice.

The assassin caught up. Her blade sang through the air and plunged into her father’s gut. But before she could pull it free, he grabbed the hilt, hands slicing open, blood cascading from his fists as he held it in place just so he can buy his family a few seconds to escape.

"SHANTY! Take Tama—GO!" he bellowed.

Tama screamed, "Papa!!"

He looked at her one last time, face twisted in pain but smiling.

"S-Survive... honey. P-Papa... loves y—"

Her mother scooped her up and ran. Trees blurred. Cold bit at her skin. Behind them, they could hear steel clashing, and something wet splattering on the unnatural snow, turning it red.

They were being hunted.

The woman behind the mask came again. Her heavy footsteps getting closer.

Shanty’s chest heaved, lungs burning, but she kept running—toward the edge of a cliff.

At the brink, she looked into Tama’s terrified eyes.

"I’m sorry, my little star."

And threw her.

The world spun. Wind howled in Tama’s ears. Her body tumbled through the air like a leaf on a storm.

She was cat-blooded. The fall wouldn’t kill her. Shanty knew she would survive the fall.

But the pain hit her hard when she landed.

As her body hit the ground below and everything turned black, the last thing she saw was the assassin driving her blade through her mother’s gut—twisting it—before her mother crumpled in a pool of red.

When consciousness finally clawed its way back to her, it came with the sting of salt and rope burns. Her wrists and ankles were bound tightly, the rough cords biting into her skin as the small boat rocked in the middle of an endless, indifferent sea. The sun scorched overhead, but the chill of hopelessness numbed her more than the wind ever could.

Two figures sat at the helm—catfolk, just like her, except they weren’t the black-cat type. A man and a woman, their fur neatly groomed, their eyes forward. They didn’t look at her. Not once. Her mouth was gagged, the taste of blood and cloth lingering on her tongue. She tried to scream, tried to plead but only muffled hums escaped. But they ignored her. As if she were cargo.

Eventually, they reached the Felmora Kingdom. That was where she was sold. A single gold coin, no haggling, no hesitation. Queen Nyxa barely even glanced at her when she paid. That was the moment her real life began:

A life with no name, no family.

A life of velvet chains and whispered commands.

A courtesan for royals and demons alike... and not once did anyone choose to buy her. Not once did anyone touch her.

Why?

Because of one cursed superstition:

That black cats bring bad luck.

**

Back To The Present

Tama’s body convulsed, bones crunching with wet, sickening cracks. Blood poured freely—thick and dark, trailing from her nose, her mouth, her ears, dripping onto the ground in crimson puddles. Her limbs twitched in agony beneath the crushing weight of the monster’s blows. And towering above her... was her mother. Or rather, what was left of her. Shanty, the woman who birthed her, now twisted into something monstrous.

"Ma...ster..." Tama croaked, her voice nothing but a breath carried on pain. "I’m... sorr—"

Her eyes rolled back. Her lips parted, but no sound followed.

A lie left unconfessed. A sin left unredeemed.

If only she could have apologized...

If only—

The beast reared back, it’s claws gleaming like obsidian daggers, raised high to deliver the final blow.

"Finish her!!" Hades bellowed, his voice venomous. "Kill the wretched black cat! Her kind are a curse on this world!!"

The claws descended—

But—

CRACK—

A violent burst of sound shattered the moment. The Enslavement Collar on Asher’s neck exploded into metallic shards, each piece catching the light like stars falling.

Before they even hit the ground—

Asher vanished in a blur. The only thing Hades felt after that was a gust of wind screaming past him, followed by—

CRUNCH.

SNAP.

SPLAT.

The beast he was so proud of had collapsed to the ground, its body reduced to scattered limbs and gore, bones shattered beyond repair. And unsurprisingly, no blood came from it. Just the stench of death hitting the air like rot.

Hades stood frozen. Blinking. Disbelieving.

It was real.

Asher had torn the monster apart with a single, merciless blow.

"TAMA!!" Asher’s voice broke as he dropped beside her broken body, his hands trembling.

He put his fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse.

Nothing.

"NO!!" he screamed. "You can’t die! Not like this!! DAMN IT, TAMA!!"

He pulled her into his arms, cradling her like something sacred, her blood soaking into his clothes with its hot, sticky blood. His tears streamed down, mingling with the blood on her pale, lifeless face.

Desperately, he fumbled for his healing potion, ripped the cork off and poured it into her mouth.

But her body didn’t stir.

Her chest didn’t rise.

The light didn’t return to her eyes.

No magic. No miracle. No hope.

Only silence.

TBC