Night fell over the world, wrapping it in a cool, dark mantle. Only the faint glow of the moon kept the shadows from fully devouring the land.

  The children, their stomachs full and their bodies freshly washed, were resting in the village square, leaning their backs against a tree as they quietly watched the villagers move about nearby. In the distance, they could even see a group of children playing with what looked like a ball.

  “Should we go play with them?” Christopher asked.

  At the same time, all his friends looked at him with expressions of pure laziness. Christopher let his shoulders drop with a tired sigh.

  “You’re all a bunch of slackers.”

  “I don’t have any strength left,” Sebastián replied. “I don’t even feel like standing up.”

  “Same here,” Mathias added. “I don’t even feel like eating.”

  “That’s really bad,” Selestia said, intervening. “If we keep being this lazy, we’ll grow up to be terrible people.”

  Everyone stared at her—because despite her words, she was lying down herself, with absolutely no intention of moving.

  “I like being like this,” Anita said with a soft smile. “I missed you all so much. Thank you for always coming to visit me.”

  “You’re our friend, Anita,” Selestia replied warmly. “We’ll always come see you, even if you’re busy with work.”

  The children couldn’t help but smile, even as exhaustion weighed on them.

  But not everything was laughter and comfort.

  Unnoticed by the children, the village itself seemed to breathe with tension and unease. Something had the adults deeply on edge.

  “Have they arrived yet?”

  Near the gate, the tension was even thicker. Valentina and Rachell stood side by side as, once again, one of the guards shook his head.

  “We still don’t see anyone, Lady Valentina.”

  Valentina’s eyes remained fixed on the closed gate. Each negative answer made her heart beat faster, her anxiety tightening with every passing second.

  She kept biting the inside of her lower lip—so much that it was already wounded, though she no longer felt the pain. She only fell into that habit when her nerves were suffocating her, when her anguish crossed a dangerous line. It was the only way she knew to steady herself.

  “A full day has already passed,” she murmured with a heavy sigh. “They should have arrived yesterday… Why aren’t they coming?”

  “Mom,” Rachell called to her, just as nervous but slightly more composed. “I know you’re extremely anxious and your nerves are at their limit, but please… let’s try to calm down. I’m sure they were delayed by the cargo, or maybe they were simply exhausted from the journey.”

  Valentina nodded, never taking her eyes off the gate.

  Rachell gently tugged at her arm.

  “Let’s go home. I’ll prepare a calming tea for us—it’ll help ease the anxiety. What do you say?”

  Valentina looked at her for a moment and offered a tense smile, doing her best to steady herself.

  “Yes… that would be best. You know how I like my tea.”

  With that, the two of them turned and began walking toward the Hope family’s house.

  “They’re coming!” exclaimed one of the sentinels watching the walls, clearly relieved.

  “Open the gate!” Tadeo ordered, and at once, the massive doors began to part.

  At last, Valentina and Rachell allowed themselves to breathe, relief finally filling their lungs.

  “They’re finally here,” Valentina said, noticeably calmer. “I swear I’m going to scold Alexander for making me worry this much.”

  “You have no idea what I’m going to do to Hermán,” Rachell added.

  Both of them were genuinely happy. But when the gate fully opened and the group slowly entered the village, something felt… wrong.

  Everyone walked with their heads lowered, dragging behind them a dreadful aura of melancholy.

  The moment Valentina and Rachell sensed that overwhelming sadness, their hearts tightened. Something was terribly wrong.

  Their eyes scanned the crowd from left to right, searching desperately—but their loved ones were nowhere to be seen.

  Then their gazes fixed on the wagons. Every single one of them was covered with sheets, concealing their contents. For a brief instant, both women saw an outstretched arm protruding from beneath one of the cloths.

  Something shattered inside them. Hermán quickly stepped forward and covered the arm again.

  “Hermán!” Rachell cried out, rushing into her husband’s arms. He embraced her immediately, and her trembling slowly eased.

  They weren’t na?ve. The moment they saw that arm, they knew—someone had died.

  Rachell pulled back slightly and looked at her husband more closely. A blood-soaked bandage covered what had once been his right eye—he had lost it. Deep wounds marked his torso and arms, as though enormous claws had torn through his flesh.

  Her gaze shifted to Valentina, who was visibly trembling. And with good reason—terror had taken hold of her.

  “Hermán… w-where i-is Alexander?”

  Valentina’s body went cold. She was on the verge of fainting, and Rachell rushed to support her.

  “What happened to Alexander?! WHERE IS HE?!”

  “My friend, don’t worry,” Hermán said as he helped her steady her breathing. Even so, his voice carried an unbearable sadness. “He’s safe… He stayed behind to take care of everyone. Look—he’s coming now.”

  He pointed behind him.

  There came Alexander, his head lowered, his gaze fixed so firmly on the ground it seemed as though the earth itself might swallow his eyes.

  Tears welled in Valentina’s eyes as she ran toward him, desperation driving every step.

  For a brief—yet eternal—moment, she truly believed she had lost her life partner. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him with every bit of strength she had left.

  This time, the tears that fell were tears of relief.

  “Alexander… Honey… I thought something had happened to you. I’m so glad you’re safe. Tell me… what happened?”

  “I’m not okay, Valentina,” Alexander murmured. His voice was so low it sounded broken. He looked shattered—defeated, drowning in regret and sorrow.

  His voice trembled even more as he spoke again.

  “We’ve lost so many…”

  Little by little, Alexander lifted his gaze and met the beautiful, peculiar eyes of his wife. She, in turn, saw his—swollen, red, and filled with tears.

  The faint trails left by tears that had only just begun to dry were still visible on his cheeks.

  “Our friends… are dead.”

  His body trembled. Feeling weak, and unwilling for anyone to see his face, he buried it against Valentina’s tender chest. That was his refuge—his safe place.

  “Who did you fight against?” she asked softly. “Please… tell me, my Honey.”

  Alexander looked at her again. More tears slid down his face as he finally forced himself to speak the name of the one responsible.

  Rage seeped into his gaze, even as the tears kept falling.

  “A Daimonas attacked us.”

  Valentina went pale.

  “W-what?! But…” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How? Where? H-how?”

  “It appeared out of nowhere… and we had to fight for our lives.”

  Tears of genuine terror welled in Valentina’s eyes as she pulled Alexander’s face toward hers, holding him tightly, grounding herself in his presence.

  “A-and what happened?”

  Alexander fell silent for a moment. Then he clenched his fists, his expression twisting with an unfathomable rage.

  “I killed it…”

  ? ? ?

  From afar, the children noticed the gate opening and a group of people entering the village.

  “Finally! They’re coming!” Sebastián exclaimed, taking Diana by the hand, his eyes shining with joy.

  “Finaaaaally!” Mathias shouted, overflowing with happiness as he watched everyone in the square run toward the gate to greet their parents, friends, and loved ones who had been gone for so long.

  “Let’s go—quickly!” Christopher ordered. The others obeyed without hesitation, their eagerness overwhelming any sense of caution.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  They ran toward the advancing caravan.

  As they drew closer, they began to recognize several of those who had gone on the journey.

  Joy filled the children—except for Christopher. Something felt wrong. The travelers’ faces didn’t reflect happiness… they reflected sorrow.

  He noticed that many of them were crying—or had only just finished doing so.

  His brow furrowed as he kept walking. He didn’t understand what was happening. Around him, he heard shouts of “happiness,” mixed with murmurs… and saw people embracing.

  “Mathias,” Mansot called, already standing beside his wife. “Son… please, give me a hug.”

  The others continued forward, but Mathias stopped and rushed to his family. He leapt up and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck, immediately realizing how badly injured he was.

  Mansot had lost the tip of his tail, blood still dripping from the wound. His left tiger ear was gone, torn away as if by something savage.

  Mansot returned the hug, and his wife joined them.

  “Dad… what happened to you?”

  “Nothing, son. Don’t worry about that,” he replied gently. “I just want you to hug me as tight as you can.”

  Farther ahead, Anita saw her father walking slowly beside a woman. In truth, she was supporting him—Jhon was badly injured, and the bloodstains on his legs made that painfully clear.

  Wincing with every step, Jhon struggled forward.

  Anita left her friends behind and ran toward him as fast as she could.

  “Daddy… you’re back!”

  Jhon crouched down and, the moment Anita stood before him, he wrapped her in a tight embrace.

  “Anita, my princess, my little candy… my most precious treasure… I love you so much. You are the love of my life.”

  Anita didn’t understand what was happening, but now she could clearly see her father’s condition.

  He was badly injured. One of his arms hung uselessly at his side, supported by bandages tied around his neck.

  “Daddy… what happened to you?” the little girl asked, her voice trembling as she looked at his brutal wounds.

  Jhon simply smiled.

  “Don’t worry about that. I just want you to hug me… and I want to introduce you to someone.”

  Anita noticed the woman who had been helping her father step closer.

  “This is Lilian,” Jhon said gently. “She’s a friend from when I was little… can you believe I found her in Nopal? And she decided to come back with us.”

  Lilian knelt beside them.

  “Nice to meet you, Anita,” she said softly. “I promise to take care of you and your dad… forever.”

  Meanwhile, Christopher, Sebastián, Diana, and Selestia arrived near the gate, searching desperately for their parents among the gathered crowd.

  “Alexander… they’re coming,” Hermán warned quietly, forcing Alexander to look up.

  Christopher, Sebastián, Diana, and Selestia were running toward them.

  Alexander let out a heavy, melancholic sigh when he saw them.

  “Daaaad!” Christopher and Sebastián shouted joyfully when they spotted their fathers.

  They ran forward, Selestia just behind them, smiling as she searched for her beloved parents.

  “Christopher, Selestia—wait!” Rachell cried out, trying to stop them, but Hermán held her back.

  “Rachell… just let them,” he said softly. “There’s no way to avoid this.”

  Tears welled in Rachell’s eyes as Sebastián and Diana reached them. In an instant, both children froze—their expressions twisting into pure terror.

  “Dad, you’re hurt! What happened to you? What did they do to you?” Sebastián shouted, panic pouring out with every word.

  Tears streamed down Diana’s face.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, her voice shaking.

  Hermán hugged them both, lifting them gently, holding them close—feeling the warmth of their lives.

  “It’s nothing… I’m here with you now,” he whispered. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Christopher and Selestia reached Alexander and Valentina.

  “Dad!” Christopher called out—but the sight before him left him confused.

  He had never seen his father like this: face buried in his mother’s chest… crying.

  “Mom? Dad?” he asked hesitantly.

  “What’s wrong with everyone?” Selestia whispered, gripping Christopher’s hand.

  Only then did Christopher realize the truth.

  What he had taken for shouts of joy were cries.

  All around them, people were crying.

  And that realization terrified him.

  He saw faces twisted in grief, tears falling not from happiness—but from pain.

  “Lady Valentina… I don’t see my parents,” Selestia said, panic rising fast. She looked around desperately. “Where are they? Have you seen them?”

  Christopher released her hand and rushed to his father.

  “Dad… what’s happening?”

  Alexander finally heard his son’s voice and pulled away from Valentina.

  His face bore fresh scars. His torso was crisscrossed with deep wounds, soaked in blood.

  Christopher ran to him and leapt into his arms.

  “Dad! What happened?! Why are you so badly hurt?!”

  Alexander hugged his son with all the strength he had left.

  “Nothing happened… don’t worry… I’m just so happy to see you, my son… my precious son.”

  “Lady Valentina… please tell me… where are my mom and dad?”

  Alexander lowered his head, holding his son tightly. Valentina’s eyes widened as her breathing became uneven. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around and face the little girl.

  Selestia felt uneasy. Something was wrong.

  She glanced to the side, toward one of the wagons, and let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that, beneath a sheet, her parents seemed to be resting.

  “Oh, Dad! I’d recognize those boots anywhere,” she said with a shaky laugh. “Are you asleep? Hey, answer me!”

  She reached out and grabbed the sheet covering her parents.

  “Mom… Dad… why are you ignoring me? Tell me… did you bring me something?”

  “Wait, Selestia! Don’t look at them!” Valentina screamed, her voice cracking with panic and terror.

  It was too late.

  Selestia pulled the sheet back with force. She had wanted to scare them, to wake them suddenly with a silly prank.

  What she saw shattered her soul.

  It broke her heart beyond repair.

  “Daaaaaaad! Mooooooom!” she screamed, a cry so raw it tore through the air.

  Her parents lay side by side… dead.

  Destroyed. Mutilated. Massacred.

  There was no other way to describe the bodies of the kind, loving elves who had once embraced her so warmly.

  Every single limb had been torn from them, as if something had pulled them apart with monstrous strength.

  The scene was simply… unbearable.

  “Nooooooooooooooo!”

  Selestia screamed again, louder, as thick, bitter tears poured endlessly from her eyes.

  Christopher watched with eyes wide open, crying in helpless despair. Alexander immediately covered his son’s eyes.

  That image would haunt him in his nightmares for days.

  Worst of all, Christopher understood with terrifying clarity that Selestia’s parents had died in a cruel, bloody… inhuman way.

  From afar, Mathias, Anita, Sebastián, and even little Diana could be seen crying as they received the dreadful news. Their anguished parents quickly led them away, trying desperately to shield them from the pain.

  But the one who suffered most… was Selestia.

  She was breaking apart.

  She clung to her father’s severed leg, sobbing uncontrollably, her gaze empty—her mind fracturing under the weight of reality. At one point, she tried to climb onto the wagon, trying to move them… as if she could still wake them.

  She couldn’t.

  “Please… don’t leave me alone! Don’t abandon me!”

  Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees, slamming her forehead against the wagon. She felt no pain.

  In that moment, she was incapable of feeling anything but grief.

  Alexander held Christopher tightly as the boy cried silently in his arms, seeking refuge in his father’s trembling warmth.

  Valentina, utterly shattered by the scene, couldn’t bear to watch that gentle, precious girl suffer alone—without even a hug.

  With a sharp gesture, she ordered the wagons to be taken away.

  The dead had to be prepared… and buried.

  The wagon began to move.

  Selestia lifted her head just in time to see her beloved parents being taken away from her.

  “No… no, no! Don’t take them!” she screamed. “They’re alive! THEY’RE ALIVE!”

  She tried to crawl after them, dragging herself forward—but Valentina stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

  She opened her arms and lifted Selestia up, wrapping her in maternal warmth, doing everything she could to soothe—even if only a little—such infinite pain.

  Over Valentina’s shoulder, Selestia could see the wagon carrying her parents slowly moving away. She stretched her arms toward it, desperately trying to reach them.

  “Noooooo… Dad, Mom! Wait for me!”

  Her heart-rending screams shattered the hearts of all who were forced to hear them.

  “Lady Valentina, please!”

  The sound of her voice felt like the sharpest sword piercing Valentina’s heart.

  “Let me go with them! Lady Valentina, let me go with theeeeem!”

  She screamed again, her tears becoming even more painful.

  Little by little, her cries turned into desperate gasps for air… then into a silent sob—one far more agonizing than the screams that came before.

  “P-please… l-let me go with them… I-I beg you… please… let me go with them. Lady Valentina… I want to go with them…”

  Selestia’s eyes met Valentina’s.

  Valentina shook her head.

  And Selestia broke completely.

  “Let me go with them! Lady Valentina, I want to go with Mom and Dad!”

  There was no reply. Valentina only held her in silence.

  That was when Selestia’s frustration and anguish exploded outward.

  “Lady Valentina, let me go right now! Now! Let me goooooo!”

  Once again, Valentina shook her head.

  “I HAAAAATE YOUUUUUUUU! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!”

  “I DON’T LOVE YOU!”

  “I HAAAAATE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!”

  Those tears were not born of hatred—nor of rage, resentment, or rancor.

  All that apparent anger… that supposed hatred… was nothing more than an unfathomable sadness sinking deep into her bones. It was so overwhelming that, without even meaning to, she poured it all onto Valentina.

  And Valentina cried.

  But she understood.

  None of Selestia’s words were real. Pain had taken complete possession of her body.

  Selestia could no longer keep her arms raised. They fell limp, and at last, her head rested against Valentina’s collarbone.

  She did not hug her.

  She couldn’t.

  She no longer had the strength.

  She was so lost in grief that she didn’t even know where she was.

  With what little strength she had left, she barely managed to clutch Valentina’s clothes, her fingers trembling weakly.

  Her eyes, tightly shut, could no longer contain anything. The tears kept flowing, endlessly.

  “Ug… uck… uwaaaah… uuueeehhhh… eeeh… eeehhhhhh…”

  It was the heart-shattering cry of a sweet little girl—barely five years old—destroyed by the loss of her beloved parents.

  Valentina looked toward Alexander.

  She noticed that his son had fainted from the pain.

  Alexander nodded to her.

  She nodded back, holding Selestia as she cried in her arms.

  They would not leave her alone.

  They would never, ever abandon her.

  They would carry her through that titanic pain.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

  Valentina and Alexander had never felt pain like this before. It shattered their hearts to see the ever-sweet, radiant Selestia lose her light and sink into the deepest pit of sorrow.

  It hurt so much—so horribly.

  That scream was the most dreadful melody their ears had ever heard. It was heart-rending, despairing, and painfully real. So full of misery that Alexander felt the tears burn his eyes as they fell.

  For a moment, the man once considered the leader of Gignit—now dragging his feet, defeated and drowning in profound despair—lifted his gaze. He scanned the village from left to right, looking at all those who had lost a loved one.

  This is all my fault… he told himself as he hugged his son with all his strength. If I hadn’t been so weak… if I had killed that Daimonas before it had the chance to do anything…

  But suddenly, his feet stopped responding. They would not move. Even the strength in his arms vanished, and he nearly dropped his unconscious son.

  His eyes slowly widened, shifting from surprise to absolute terror.

  Horror seized his body. His breathing grew shallow, erratic. He began to hyperventilate.

  And he wasn’t the only one.

  Valentina felt her skin prickle—but this time it was painful. Even without speaking, she felt as if burning needles were stabbing every pore of her body.

  Her breathing quickened until it became almost impossible to draw air.

  Then her body began to tremble uncontrollably. Her teeth chattered as if she were freezing to death—yet the night was mild, almost pleasant. Still, that sensation froze her hands, her feet, her back… even her soul.

  In a moment of suffocating panic, she looked at Selestia—who, like Christopher and all the children of the village, had fainted.

  Everyone in Gignit felt true terror.

  It was as if the hands of death were tightening around their throats.

  “Th-this can’t be…” Alexander murmured, staring ahead, his terrified gaze colliding with Hermán’s—who looked exactly the same. “This can’t be happening…”

  Hermán, Tobías, Tadeo, and all those who had traveled to the city of Nopal and returned alive felt death itself whisper in their ears:

  This time, you will die.

  One by one, they turned their eyes toward the shadows beyond the gate.

  “A-A-Alexander…” Valentina wept, her voice shaking with panic and terror. “Don’t tell me this is…”

  The air grew cold and tense.

  Unease filled the village, and terror became yet another inhabitant of Gignit.

  And then—from the other side of the gate, the boundary between the village’s warmth and the ominous darkness—they saw it.

  They saw how macabre, diabolical darkness embraced Gignit, promising death and mourning.

  They saw the being that embodied absolute evil.

  They saw the most disgusting abomination of existence.

  They saw the most blasphemous and aberrant creature—considered a sacrilege against existence itself. The mere fact that it breathed was an unforgivable offense to life.

  They saw living sin.

  And then, emerging from the tenebrous darkness, they saw one of those beings whose very existence is deemed the ultimate insult—an unforgivable sacrilege against the Gods themselves.

  Its body was foul and mephitic to behold, its life an affront to the natural cycle of Kosmos.

  There—approaching in a nauseating, horrifying manner—Gignit suffered the misfortune of witnessing the arrival of one of the beings that must be exterminated at all costs.

  For otherwise… All life in Kosmos would be extinguished.

  There, standing before the gates of Gignit—

  A Daimonas.