He spread his arms toward Lossa, as if to show off his transformed body.
“Do I still look like that frail human from back then?”
“Please!”
“I told you to join me. You rejected my offer.”
“This is madness!”
“No, it’s the right thing. Why can’t you understand?”
Inayari was a brilliant man, but his body couldn’t keep up with his mind. He worked tirelessly to overcome his physical limits, only to fail repeatedly as his frail form deteriorated.
His childhood friends—Sian Freeston, Zaivan Elient, Rou Retan, and Lossa Pison—were his hope in those moments of despair. Like siblings, they supported him, doing everything they could to help.
When Inayari’s body neared its breaking point, their experiment to enhance human physiology finally succeeded. They rejoiced, believing he could now share their strength.
But the joy was fleeting.
With his newfound power, Inayari began to dream bigger. He scorned ordinary humans, insisting only the strong deserved to survive.
At first, they thought he was joking, but his actions grew blatant, and the gravity of his intentions sank in. They tried to stop him, but he created more enhanced humans.
Tragically, most of his creations lost their reason, becoming instinct-driven monsters.
“Look at that, Inayari,” Lossa shouted, pointing at the slaughter unfolding. “What value is there in a world filled with carnage?”
“Some pain is inevitable to birth a new world,” he replied, as if soothing a child.
“It’s just a transition. Soon, only the strong will remain, and a new era will dawn. We could rule it, Lossa. We could be gods.”
“You’re insane!”
Words failed to reach him.
They’d hoped he might come to his senses while they sought ways to seal him, but facing him now, hope vanished.
They had started this; they had to end it.
The tragedy was that their descendants would bear the cost. With no choice but to act now, they steeled themselves.
“Sian?”
“It’s ready, Lossa.”
“Do it!”
At Lossa’s command, Sian activated the barrier. Golden patterns rose from the earth.
“What are you doing?” Inayari demanded.
“We’re sealing you and those monsters together,” Lossa replied.
“You think that’s possible?” he sneered.
“Your blood carries ours too,” Sian said, stepping forward, blood dripping from his slashed wrist.
“This barrier curses the blood in our veins. It’ll chain you and those monsters.”
The blood mingled with the golden patterns, twisting eerily. Inayari’s face contorted as he read the spell’s formula.
“You won’t escape unscathed either!”
“True,” Sian admitted.
The barrier was activated with his blood, but it was too weak to seal Inayari. The golden patterns writhed hungrily, seeking more.
“We sowed the seeds; we’ll reap them,” Sian said.
The patterns engulfed Rou and Zaivan’s fallen bodies, consuming them as fuel.
“You think this will stop me?” Inayari growled, dodging the golden whips lashing at him as they flickered among the slaughtering monsters.
“I’ll be a god in the new world. Nothing can stop me!”
The whips, fueled by Rou and Zaivan, ensnared Inayari’s ankle, piercing his veins.
“How!” he roared, stunned.
“I told you—our blood is cursed,” Sian said, his face twisted in pain.
Lossa, now one with the barrier, was no longer visible. Only Sian and Inayari remained.
“We’ve bound ourselves and our descendants to seal you,” Sian said.
It was no excuse; their inadequacy had led to this. They and their descendants would suffer for eons, regretting this moment.
That was their punishment.
“Argh!”
The patterns pierced Inayari’s heart, drawing a beastly scream.
“No!”
Sian watched as Inayari and the monsters were trapped.
As long as the barrier’s core held, they’d never escape.
Staggering from blood loss, Sian moved quickly. His time was short—he’d soon be absorbed into the barrier.
There were things he had to finish first.
His golden eyes glinted.
To prevent such a catastrophe again, the Freeston family led the remaining three houses in unity.
Freeston built a kingdom to guard the world efficiently. Retan monitored and eliminated humans and hybrids exploiting the creatures now called Inayari.
Elient protected Freeston’s kingdom from collapse, while Pison, birthing the barrier’s core, ensured its endurance.
But time faded memories, turning history into legend. Only the four houses retained fragmented records, and even those were incomplete. Without the Black Priest, all might have been forgotten.
Bound to the barrier, the four became the Black Priest, forgetting their identities and purpose over time, driven only by the urge to protect the barrier.
It’s her!
At the Emperor’s coronation, Lossa’s fragmented consciousness stirred. Her soul’s imprinted memory awakened, following Bijonne’s actions.
When Bijonne pierced her heart, breaking the barrier, Lossa recalled not only her own memories but her past life.
“Why?”
