"Aeuu, runnnnnn!" a man shouted as he fought off an enemy.
In the distance sat a seven-year-old boy, paralyzed and frozen in fear. His body was covered in various kinds of blood, as if he had just killed dozens of people.
(I killed them! I killed them all.....I-) The boy's gray eyes widened in horror as he recalled the scene that had unfolded a few hours earlier.
In that scene, his beautiful mother sat on a comfortable sofa. In her lap, a bewitching boy slept peacefully. Occasionally, a frown crossed his cute face as if he were having trouble sleeping.
Beside them, a handsome man with glasses leaned against the sofa, holding a novel as he read a fantasy story to his sleeping son.
Around them, a small group of six maids, who appeared to be in their teenage years, stood gracefully in the moonlit hall.
"Haaaaa! The young master looks so lovely when he is asleep. My pitiful heart can't take it," one of the maids whispered, her hands cupping her flushed cheeks.
"Daina, ssshhhhh! You will disturb his sleep. But you're right; he really does look too cute for God's sake," another maid attempted to scold Daina. However, when her gaze fell on the sleeping boy, she couldn't help but nod absentmindedly.
"The young master is so lovely and fascinating, even as a child. Plus, he is kind and has a sinfully pure vibe about him," another maid chimed in. "I can't wait to see him grow up."
"I know, right? I bet he will grow into such a bewitching young man that even a fairy tale prince might be ashamed to profane his magnificence," one of the other six maids clasped her hands, her eyes glazed with fanatical dreams.
"You four... Stop staring! You're making our shy Xazia jealous," the sensible maid among them said, pointing to a thirteen-year-old girl at the back who was glaring at them with puffed cheeks.
The four maids snapped out of their trance and turned to face the little girl with gray hair and half-elven features, who was dressed in an adorable maid outfit.
Daina pinched Xazia's puffed cheeks as she teased, "What, Xazia, are you really jealous? Is it because we are courting the person you adore?"
"Well, she is his personal maid, and she really likes the young master. Who knows, she might have even decided to become his concubine in the future."
"Hey, hey, hey. Xazia, is that true?"
As the maids giggled and teased, little maid Xazia felt her face burn with embarrassment. She lowered her head shyly..
Since she is the youngest and most reserved member of the group, her seniors often take pleasure in bullying her.
"Quite!" The mother of the sleeping boy glared at them, making them cough awkwardly as they returned to their positions and fell silent.
The mother looked at her sleeping child affectionately. She gently stroked his long, pitch-black hair and softly murmured, "Long hair really suits my sweet child."
"But, Yami, he's a boy, not a girl," the father said with a wry smile.
"So what? I prefer my boy this way. Do you have a problem with that?" Yami, the mother, shot a glare at the man beside her, pouting.
"No, I mean—" The man began to sweat profusely as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to explain, but he abruptly stopped.
He gazed at his son's sleeping face, which was slowly turning pale. A frown creased his brow as uneasiness crept into his heart.
Yami noticed it too. She felt her child's body growing colder. Gripping his icy hands, an anxious expression crossed her face. "His bloodline is starting to awaken!"
"What!" the child's father exclaimed in disbelief. "He's only seven and hasn't even awakened his mana yet. How is that possible?"
"I don't know. But first, prepare an isolation array disk. Otherwise, the Adventurer's Guild and Utopia Academy's radars might detect the energy signatures of the bloodline awakening," Yami urged, her eyes filled with worry as she sensed her child's body growing colder.
"Ah! Right away..." The father quickly accessed his system storage. Suddenly, a terrifying wave of inky darkness erupted from the child's body.
The inky darkness erupted violently, blasting the entire house and everyone inside.
....
Amid the falling debris, the mother and father created a barrier that shielded themselves and the maids from dying.
However, they all sustained various injuries, with Yami, the mother, suffering the most severe wounds since she was closest to the blast.
Even now, her internal system was being continuously corrupted by a swirling black maisam. She attempted to summon her strength to dispel it, but even her most powerful abilities proved futile.
In contrast, the maids fared better and remained conscious. Fortunately, the inky darkness did not reach them before the barrier enveloped them. Nevertheless, the six maids were terrified and unable to stop trembling.
The father wiped the blood from his lips and said, "That surge of power... It's not merely his bloodline. An inborn power source is manifesting, or perhaps..."
"Or perhaps the manifestation of the power source is the true catalyst for his bloodline awakening," Yami completed his thought as she leaned against her husband for support.
"It doesn't make sense. Even if it's a power source manifestation, how could it occur without the support of mana?" the father said incredulously while adjusting his glasses.
Meanwhile, the sleeping boy floated in the air, his entire form enveloped in inky black darkness, creating a sphere around him.
"His humanity seems to be transcending... This should take some time."
"I hope nothing goes wrong..." Yami said worriedly.
""Don't worry, I've already secured this area with the isolation array disk. No one will be able to disturb his transcendence, but..." The father hesitated.
"I know. They may have already detected the bloodline energy signatures. Given their resentment and scorn for my bloodline, they might already be on their way," Yami continued, filled with self-mockery.
"Egon, I will reveal myself and serve as a decoy. You need to take Aeuu and escape from here," Yami said, her expression resolute.
"No! Your reputation is already at rock bottom as the Witch of Calamity. Moreover, if you expose your bloodline, they wouldn't even think of capturing you; they would kill you on the spot." Without hesitation, Egon shook his head firmly. "Instead, I will be the decoy. Although my rank and level are lower than yours, my PS (power source) abilities will make it difficult for even a high existential being to kill me."
Seeing his stubborn attitude, Yami felt a mix of warmth and anxiety. "Listen to me, Egon, you know as well as I do that revealing my bloodline is a crucial part of the plan. Otherwise—"
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Before she could complete her thought, a childish cry of pain and agony echoed from the inky black sphere. Terrifying shockwaves erupted, striking the barrier and transforming the surroundings into potholes.
Even the invisible fabric of time and space surrounding the inky darkness was being obliterated into nonexistence.
....
"MY CHILD!" Yami roared. She struggled to rush forward, but Egon held her back.
Typically, she couldn't even bear to see her child with a scratch and would cry for days, refusing to let him leave her embrace for hours. Let alone now.
This is the first time she has heard his painful cry since his birth. Her heart is being torn apart as she listens to his cries of agony intensify with each passing second.
Her mind became unstable. She glared at Egon hatefully, "Let me go! My child needs me!!!"
Egon sighed wryly; he was truly envious of his son. Even he wouldn't be able to elicit such a strong reaction from his wife, at least not to the point of mental derangement.
Nonetheless, he didn't let go. Instead, he used a gravity-type PS ability on her, increasing the gravitational pull on her body. Since she was severely injured and the black miasma inside her was corrupting and erasing her strength bit by bit, she was unable to resist.
"You..."
Meanwhile, inside the inky black sphere, Aeuu felt his soul tearing apart. It was as if all of existence was instinctively denying the manifestation of his power source.
In order to stop his power source manifestation, all existential laws, known and unknown concepts, and the omnipresent fabric of reality itself came crashing down, threatening to erase him from existence.
As the pressure mounted, cracks began to form in his colorless soul. The agony of his soul reached the extreme threshold of what the term 'pain' could convey. Soon, his existence ceased to animate.
Just when it seemed his soul would disintegrate, a spectrum of pure colors personified in the nucleus of of his being. They healed and supported him, alleviating the pressure. This created a disruption in the balance between the overwhelming existential pressure and the barely resisting power source manifestation.
The tide turned in favor of the resisting power source manifestation, prompting it to retaliate violently. A pitch-black true darkness erupted from the abyss of his existence, effortlessly obliterating the existential pressure..
As the pressure dissipated, Aeuu's fractured soul was gently healed by the spectrum of pure colors. In the end, 'They' too disappeared.
The true darkness also receded into the abyssal depths of his being, but not before leaving behind the aftereffects of its temporary personification in the existential world.
Aeuu's halted animation resumed, and his twisted face relaxed. Unfortunately, this is where the true nightmare begins.
The backlash came swiftly, and Aeuu's enchanting grey eyes darkened completely.
.....