"AAAAARGH!!!"
The time the black orb entered his stomach, he felt like something was forcefully tearing its way inside his body. Jack knelt down, firmly gripping his head and screaming till his voice turn hoarse.
Black veins potruded all over him. The previously black eyes become bloody red and black scales and pitch-black claws appeared on his forearms. His flat teeth became razor sharp and his black hair turned white. Additionally, his tongue lengthen, looking increasingly disturbing.
"Interesting..."
The man was not a bit surprise, using a tone as if it was all within expectation.
"Haah... Haah..."
Jack was looking at his hands, but there was no trace of regret in his eyes. Instead, he firmly clenched it. Determination filling his eyes with a hint of joy.
He then looked at the man atop the dragon's head.
"Will I remain like this?"
Jack said hoarsely.
"The demonic core had already taken root in your body. So yes, You'll be like that for the rest of your life. Do you regret it?"
"No, I don't"
"Good. I'll be disappointed if you say otherwise."
Just after the voice faded, the man lifted his hand and drew hundreds of complex dark symbols in the air.
"Justice Binding! Sin Aggression! Sin Cognition!"
The hundreds of runes simultaneously revolved in a complex pattern. They conjoined in a seemingly random manner before only a couple of runes was left revolving in three different patterns.
With a wave of his hand, all the symbols flew and was imprinted in Jack's mind. A ring of runes appeared around the iris of his eye before gradually fading.
"Why do you keep shouting the names of your spells and curses? Your being childish!"
The black dragon spoke once more with it's ear-ripping voice.
"Why? I think It's just right to let others know what you're doing... and it's cool."
"That's stupid. Your telling them what spell your going to use, making it easier for them to choose the right spellcounter."
The black dragon replied rolling its eyes.
After fooling around for a bit, the man and the dragon resumed their seriousness. Thinking that Jack might be wondering what he did to him, the man looked at Jack and said,
"Don't worry, It's the curse I told you about."
Suddenly, he jumped tens of meters away from them.
"Here comes the fun part!"
He raised his right hand and wind started to blow his cape slightly. A ring of dark sophisticated runes appeared revolving over his wrist and a small black magic circle emerged from his palm. He then pointed it at the nervous Jack.
The black dragon just sighed.
"So bothersome."
A couple of seconds passed before the man opened his mouth.
"Activate!"
*Thump*
Immediately after the words were spoken, Jack felt something inside him beating. As if he can't control his body, he slowly turned towards the black dragon.
His eyes turned bloodshot and the ring of runes emerged once more. Darkness shrouded his consciousness.
His sanity slowly left him until only craziness was remain in his eyes. He become insane.
"I SmEll siN..."
In a flash he suddenly appeared above the black dragon, insanely grinning while bringing his raised claws down.
"Hmph!"
But the black dragon just snorted and swatted Jack like a fly.
*Boom*
However, even before the dust disappear, a shadow can be seen zooming towards the dragon.
"DiE SiNnEr!!!"
*Peng* *Boom*
Although the force and speed that Jack exhibited was already beyond even the most powerful humans widely known by the masses, he was still casually deflected by the black dragon.
No matter what Jack do, It's useless against the black dragon. He didn't even managed to scratch a tiny piece of the black dragons scale. Nevertheless, he still didn't stop his relentless attacks and even seemed to be getting more and more powerful.
"It's getting annoyi-"
Just as the dragon is swatting Jack, he turned into black smoke that dissipated into the surrounding. The dragon's eyes instantly turned sharp.
The black dragon realized that he let his guard down and didn't expect that he would be able to use the shadow clone already.
It must be known that shadow clone requires great mastery and compatibility with the power of darkness. Using it to construct an almost identical copy of yourself. Only with years of training will you be able to use it.
Not to mention the fact that Jack managed to fool the mighty Black Dragon of Chaos.
Although he was severely weakened, and what he was displaying right now was probably not even one thousandth of his former strength, It was still very impressive since it is not an exaggeration to say that those who can compete with him are but a few, and all of them has the power to destroy the whole planet.
But no matter how powerful the black dragon is, it was already too late to stop Jack who was already at the back of his tail. Apparently, his momentary shock give Jack enough time to attack.
"HAhAHAhAhaHA!!!
After the distorted laughter, Jack opened his mouth and suddenly swung his head down to bite the scaly tail with all his might.
*CRACK*
*ROOOOAAARR*
A loud roar of pain and anger shook the whole cave. Jack managed to break its scales and bit deeply into its flesh.
Anger and humiliation filled the black dragon's eyes. Due to it, he forgot to hold back a lot of his power and fiercely slam its tail with Jack to the wall.
*BANG*
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Your killing him!"
The man immediately shouted seeing how the black dragon smashed Jack to the wall.
"Don't you know I spended quite the effort just to make it successful?!"
The Black Dragon snorted and look away. A trace of hatred can still be seen on his face.
The man hurriedly walked towards the wall while waving his hand. A huge gust of wind was summoned to dispel the dust.
Reaching the crumbled wall, he breathe a sigh of relief seeing the child breathing, albeit weakly.
He used his magic to gently lift the bloody Jack in the air and walk towards Sera.
"His fighting power is satisfactory. I'll bring them out."
And with a flash, they are gone and only the dragon remain.
"Hmph."
________________________________________
_____________________________
____________________
Outside the dungeon, light flashed and three humanoid beings appeared.
The man put the corrupted Jack on the ground and Little Sera beside him.
He looked at the form of the boy, reminiscing about his past. It amused him of how they suffered the same childhood.
He once was a pure child, but the cruel reality destroyed his last shred of innocence.
Taking another deep look at the two, he didn't really care what will happen to them. But deep down he actually hope that they could survive.
He magically took a piece of paper, and a quill and ink out of nowhere. He scribbled a bit before inserting it inside Jack's clothes.
Then he turn around and vanished without a trace.
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________
A few hours later...
Sera's index finger twitched, followed by weak movements of her petite body.
She slowly opened her eyes, gently sitting up.
"Jacky...?"
She said softly, before realizing that her beloved Mr. Teddy was nowhere in her grasp. She searched frantically around her before her gaze fall upon the human-like beast beside her.
"AAAAAHH!!!"
A shrill cry of fear startled the whole forest. Jack opened his eyes and looked at the frightened Sera who's now crawling backwards.
He was extremely confused what was happening, but he instantly understood when he tried to reach out his hand.
He stared at his pitch black hand for a moment.
'So It's not a dream at all.'
He weakly stood up. His body felt very sore but he still slowly walked towards Sera.
"S-Sera I-"
"DON'T COME NEAR ME!!! Don't kill me!!!"
After seeing the bloody monster approaching her, tears flowed once again from her flushed eyes. She curled into a ball shivering.
"I'm Jack!"
Seeing her get frighten from his appearance, he felt like his heart skipped a beat. He could feel a tearing sensation in his chest that made him on the verge of crying, twisting his expression horribly and making him tremble.
"NO! You're not! *sniff* J-Jacky isn't a monster! M-Mr. Teddy... J-Jacky, s-save me..."
Jack fell to his knees. His eyes shakily looking at Sera.
It's fine if it was someone else, but it's very painful to hear the word monster coming from Sera. He didn't know what to do or how to convince her.
He lowered his head, looking lifeless.
He doesn't know what to do. He failed to consider how Sera would react.
Then, an Idea slipped in his mind. A story only Jack and Sera would know.
Suddenly, his head shot up and shouted at Sera.
"SERA!!! WHY DID THE PRINCE KILLED THE CURSED PRINCESS!!!"
Sera stopped shaking. Her eyes widened and even her tears ceased flowing.
She slowly looked up. Carefully looking at the being in front of her. He had white hair and bloody-red eyes. Blood stained his face and clothes. His teeth are razor sharp and his arms are replaced by pitch black claws. No matter the angle, he looked like a monster, however, he resembled someone.
"Because... He loves her..."
She answered softly.
"And who read that story with you?"
He asked gently, his eyes revealing a rare hint of tenderness.
"J-Jacky..."
Tears continued to flow on her pale cheeks.
She remembered the time when she found a story book within a pile of trash needed to be burn. She kept it and read it to Jack in their few hours of break. Although Jack was about ten years old, he was not able to learn how to read. Therefore, it was Sera patiently reading it to him while he listened carefully.
It was about a prince and a cursed princess. She was cursed to live every second of her life in pain. Yet, the prince fall in love with the lovely princess. However, unlike most of the stories about prince and princesses, it was not a happily ever after.
The point of time arrived where the princess couldn't endure the pain anymore. The prince stood beside her watching her suffer in agony.
He knew that only death can free her from suffering. Brandishing his sword, he whispered sweet words to the princess, and told her how much he loved her.
The princess smiled softly and reached to him. Both of their lips met, but the time they parted, the princess was no longer breathing, and his sword gleamed a bloody light.
He stood with a expressionless face and lifeless eyes. He raised his sword soundlessly and struck it upon his heart.
It was a tragic story.
The time they finished, Sera's voiced was trembling and her face was full of tears. She hugged and started crying on Jack's rug like clothes. Even Jack shed a couple of tears.
It was like a cold bucket of water pouring to them, that life will never be fair, and in every world, there is someone bound to live a horrible life. They could very much relate to it.
Sera suddenly jumped towards Jack and hugged him crying. They just sit there feeling the comfort of each other.
After a few minutes later, Jack broke the silence.
"I'm indeed Jack, but I'm also a monster. Shouldn't you must be scared of me?"
Sera looked up to him and smiled sweetly.
"Jacky is very sweet. If Jacky is a monster, then you will be the sweetest monster to me."
Jack felt very warm inside. He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.
'This is what I'm living for.'
He silently thought.