CHAPTER 99: A TEAR

With his mother’s heart-wrenching cry ringing in his ears, Kael’s indifferent expression faltered completely.

And he began to run through the heavy rain toward the bamboo forest that stood proudly toward the sky like spears.

As he moved forward, his steps became faster and faster. In the reflection of the stagnant water puddles, his body appeared distorted. And at the same time, all kinds of thoughts crossed his mind, imagining the worst possible scenario.

As he made his way through the bamboo, his expression, which had initially wavered, hardened, and his eyes grew darker and darker.

He accepted that this scream was the last he would ever hear from her.

Not long after, deep in the bamboo forest, Kael came upon an old shed, half rotted away from the damp. His long black hair fell messily over his face, completely hiding his expression.

Despite the constant pounding of the rain, a sound managed to filter through the murmur of the water: faint, irregular gasps.

He advanced steadily, though his boots sinking into the mud made a dull, heavy noise. The closer he got, the more a thick, pungent metallic smell filled the air. Blood. The scent was unmistakable. And with it, something inside Kael died.

The darkness in his eyes grew denser. More empty.

With each step in the rain, memories tangled in his mind. Images of his mother, warm and distant, began to mix with fragments of his former life. Faces, scenes, decisions. Everything superimposed. Everything distorted.

And this time, if Alessia was still alive... or if she was already dead, it was his fault.

No one else’s.

He was the one who acted. He manipulated the pieces. He pulled the strings that dragged everything into this chaos. Every word, every decision, every silence was part of the plan.

There was no accident.

It was his will.

And with that act, he probably lost the most important person in his life.

He was only a few inches from the door when it suddenly swung open, shaking violently. Jasper’s deranged voice echoed from inside, filled with manic euphoria.

"HAHAHAHA~! I HAVE CREATED A MASTERPIECE!"

He emerged from the shed like a specter distorted by madness. In his hand, he held a sword still dripping with blood, and the rain began to slowly clean it, revealing the bare white of the bone that formed the blade.

A monstrous creation. A weapon born of horror.

It was highly unusual: it was made from a real spine. The vertebrae fit together like a series of articulated segments, forming a flexible yet sturdy spine.

Jasper’s maniacal laughter echoed through the tall stalks of the bamboo forest, sharp and uncontrolled. He held the weapon in his hand with a euphoric expression, intoxicated by the ecstasy of his creation. His eyes shone with a mixture of pride and madness.

But then, a chill ran down his spine.

Something in the atmosphere changed. The air became heavy, almost unbreathable. His instincts, dormant with excitement, suddenly awoke and began screaming at him to run. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

With his pulse racing, he turned his head from side to side, his laughter slowly fading. And then he saw it.

In the shadows of the forest, his eyes, now devoid of all reason, met Kael’s face, who was watching him silently. His long black hair fell over his face like a veil, hiding almost everything... except those eyes. Cold. Dark as the night itself.

At that moment, the smile on his face widened, becoming twisted and deranged. Something in his gaze broke completely as he began to speak with a sickening emotion.

"Oh... This is interesting. Fate is on my side today."

His voice sounded high-pitched, vibrant, like that of a child who had just found his favorite toy... one he could destroy at will.

"My dear brother... I was just about to come looking for you. But I didn’t expect you to come on your own. That saves me a lot of trouble," he laughed lightly, with a joy that was anything but healthy.

Kael didn’t respond. He remained still, watching him indifferently. That lack of reaction made Jasper’s smile twist even more, becoming cruel and venomous. He raised the weapon in his hand, turning it slowly, as if it were a trophy.

"Are you curious about this weapon...? Do you want to know what it’s made of?"

His voice dropped to a whisper full of venom. Then he said it.

"The materials come from someone you know very well... From your mother."

And then he burst into uncontrollable, delirious laughter that echoed like a sick echo throughout the bamboo forest under the heavy rain.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

Kael didn’t flinch. He just slowly raised his head and looked up at the dark sky.

The raindrops slid down his face incessantly. But one of them... was different.

A tear.

Silent. Invisible in the storm. But brutal.

And then he spoke. Not to his brother. Not to the world.

To her. His mother.

The one who gave him unconditional love without expecting anything in return.

The only one in these two lives who smiled at him with true warmth.

"Mother... I know you were never perfect. But your love was. I knew it since I was a child, but it took me a lifetime to understand it."

His voice was low, trembling, broken inside... warm like the hands that had cared for him silently for so many years.

"While I was running after power, you were running after me... And yet you never asked me to come back. You never complained. You just waited... until the end."

His eyes softened for a moment. As if the child he once was still lived on, trapped somewhere deep inside.

"Your mistake... Mine was not stopping to look."

His breath came out slowly. Long. Painful.

"If there is anything truly irreplaceable in this world... it was your existence. And I knew it too late."

He closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them.

And everything changed.

The warmth evaporated. The tenderness died.

Only calm and clarity remained. His face darkened completely, as if the light of the sky refused to touch him.

"I will not deny this guilt. I will bear it. But every step I take from this day forward... will be stained with blood."

He took a step forward. Then another. Steady. Calm. Absolute.

Kael looked directly at Jasper with a soul-chilling indifference and spoke in an empty voice, devoid of any emotion.

"Ah... Dear brother Jasper, perhaps I should thank you for the great work you have done, but..."

He didn’t finish his sentence.

He disappeared in an instant.

He reappeared in front of Jasper, his fist already embedded in his abdomen. The blow was sharp and violent. A dull thud was heard, and Jasper’s body flew backward like a puppet without strings.

As he flew through the air, the crisp crack of several ribs breaking could be heard clearly, accompanied by the brittle sound of bamboo stalks being shattered by his body.

Blood spurted from his mouth into the air. He fell among the rubble with a muffled scream.

Kael appeared beside him again and drove his knee into his chest with such force that the ground cracked beneath them. Jasper spat out a thick stream of blood and teeth.

He grabbed his right hand... and without another word, began to apply pressure. There was a dull snap, then a long, wet crack. With a slow movement, Kael ripped his arm from his shoulder.

Jasper’s scream was inhuman. It was like the bellowing of a pig being slaughtered, and it echoed through the bamboo forest.

Blood gushed from the stump, splattering the leaves and Kael’s unflinching face.

Kael tossed the arm to the ground as if it were trash.

Then he knelt beside him. Jasper tried to crawl away, but didn’t get far. Kael grabbed his left leg and, with his fingers, began to break each toe, one by one, crushing them between his nails until the flesh split open and the bones protruded.

"You... You’re crazy!" Jasper spat, between spasms of pain.

Kael looked at him silently. And smiled for the first time.

He tore his leg off from the knee down in one swift motion. The bone splintered like a broken spear, the flesh hanging like bloody shreds.

"This... is for my mother."

He plunged his face into the bloody mud and dragged himself among the roots, as if he were a corpse.

He kicked him in the jaw. The bone dislocated. Jasper could no longer speak. He could only make choking noises.

Kael then raised his remaining arm, grabbed it with both hands, and with calculated force, began to twist it as if it were a dry branch. The crack was thick, repulsive. The flesh slowly tore apart, until the arm gave way with a viscous sound, like ground meat separating from a tendon.

Jasper was no longer screaming. He was just convulsing. His face was covered in mud, blood, and tears.

Kael looked at him in that state.

And with a simple movement, Kael thrust his fingers into his chest, piercing skin, flesh, and bone... and ripped out his beating heart right in front of his eyes.

For a second, Jasper’s eyes opened in horror.

Then they went blank.

Kael stood there. Silent. His heart was in his hand, beating slower and slower.

He dropped it into the mud.

And as the rain continued to fall, he turned away... his brother’s blood still warm between his fingers.

And he took the sword that had been made from his mother’s body.

Just as he took the weapon...

The translucent figure of Alessia appeared.