One minute and twenty seconds before Armad's eyes closed ...

***

He walked casually, looking at the beautiful surroundings of the village. Although the village was small, every street was decorated with planted greenery. There were flowers of different colors on the walls and doors. The village calmed him down. He felt an unfamiliar joy.

His eyes reached a red piece of paper on the wall in front of him. The writings on the paper were divided into three parts.

The first part read:

Triple Factor poses a threat to public order. But the first world will do everything possible to ensure that he is arrested. You are assured, so calm down.

The second part of the paper mentioned the rewards that awaited anyone who caught Triple Factor or provided any information that helped in his arrest.

Anyone who catches Triple Factor, or provides information that helps in his arrest will be rewarded accordingly:

1- Your tribe will be elevated to the first world.

2- You will be given the highest rank in your tribe, applicable to any tribe.

3- Your soul and the soul of your descendants will be strengthened with one of the four Bends of the first world.

The third part described how to recognize Triple Factor, as follows:

Look for a miyura on his forehead with a picture of three moons: one for the ninth night, one for the eighteenth night, and one for the twenty-seventh night. The months' images circle the mark in protection.

This is how it looks:

A clear picture of the miyura in question was given.

The last section also contained the signature of King Dul'Ururu, the King of the second world. Besides the signature was a face, of which nothing could be seen but two black eyes which moved around like they were alive. When someone came in front of the paper and said they had information about Triple Factor, the eyes would move and look into the person's eyes.

In the presence of the black eyes, you didn't need to turn your information into words, just one look at you and they would extract any information from your brain without your knowledge.

At the lower end of the paper was a logo of the seven worlds with the image of a palace on top, which was the symbol of the first world.

Armad came to the end of the paper after reading the above information, he understood more about what Núsi was telling him about Triple Factor, and his eyes turned to the last part with the image of the face and the two black eyes. It was at that moment that his eyes shut. He tried to open them but he felt foreign energy coming from his miyura sealing his eyelids and making sure they remained closed.

As if reacting to this, a similarly powerful but different energy form came from the black eyes on the paper. Although his eyes were closed, he could still feel the strange energy in the atmosphere, trying to force open his eyes.

The black eyes on the paper emitted black smoke, which filled the village with so much fog that you could hardly see the person standing next to you.

The villagers came out of their houses in panic, knowing that if these eyes emitted smoke, then it must be a special announcement from the first world.

In the smoke, the black eyes on the paper shone brightly, making the already black sclera darker.

The village darkened even though it was noon as if the black eyes were blocking the sun. Then the smoke slowly condensed on one side. It rotated so fast that when you looked at it your head would spin, and it transformed into a bell. A big, black, smoky bell that was so huge that it covered the sun.

Núsi stood in front of Armad. He'd stopped trying to open his eyes and just stood there shaking.

Meanwhile, Armad found himself in a plain landscape. He stood still unable to control his body as a puff of smoke tried to gouge out his eyes violently. It was as if the smoke had a mind of its own, and its life depended on destroying Armad's eyes. A statue holding a war hammer appeared in the landscape. It attacked the smoke, which churned and turned into a nine-headed creature. On each head of the creature, there were two black eyes, making a total of eighteen black eyes, shining like the darkest of all nights.

Armad stood in this world as a spectator as a fiery battle raged between the statue, who seemed to be protecting him, and the nine-headed abomination who was set on destroying him.

Both their faces looked blurry that Armad couldn't see their facial features, but he still felt the hatred between them. It was like seeing a battle between the demons of the first world and the humans of the seventh world, only more epic.

Outside, Núsi had been trying to wake Armad up, but he didn't budge, and his eyes remained closed.

As she debated on what to do next, she saw the massive bell hanged just above them. When the villagers saw the bell floating just above the ground, they couldn't help but notice the two people beneath it. Armad and Nusi were strangers to them. They'd never seen them before.

In a village of a few hundred of people, everyone knew their neighbors. So the villagers easily identified Nusi and Armad as the strangers they were.

"Why did he close his eyes?" They asked.

At first, they thought Armad was blind, but he didn't look like a blind man at all, and there were swollen veins around his eyes, indicating that his eyes were forcefully closed.

They stared at Armad suspiciously for a while, but they soon looked away. They were accustomed to seeing strangers since the village was on the road, and most of them were focused on the smoky bell anyway, waiting to hear what the first world had to say.

After a while, the alarm went off, causing all the people in the village to fall on their knees. Even Núsi fell on her knees as if she had no control over her body. Armad didn't kneel, which made everyone look up in surprise.

When Nusi saw how the villagers were looking at him, she pulled on his shirt so he too could kneel, but he didn't budge.

The alarm went off for the second time, and a voice spoke.

''A statement to all inhabitants of the lower worlds," the disembodied voice said. It carried the authority of the first world, the kind that would compel the ear to listen and the brain to comprehend. ''Another Heir of Wilberforce has appeared. He has this miyura on his forehead."

As the voice said this, a picture of the miyura appeared in the mind of anyone who was listening to it.

"This is an opportunity for anyone who wants to get Triple Factor. Arrest the new Heir and use his blood to track the man."

The voice paused and after a few seconds, it rang again. The villagers felt like they were waking up from sleep. Their eyes were filled with wonder at what they just heard.

"The Heir of Wilberforce?!"

"What's going on?"

"Who might they be?"

"Hmm. No matter who they are, they won't survive to see another full moon."

The people of the village talked among themselves.

By the side, three elders took a deep breath and spoke, "who will be the first to catch them. Whoever gets their hands on them first will have a chance to get Triple Factor."

"But the Heir won't be weak? I don't think they will just sit back and let us get them," said another elder.

''No,'' said another. "He won't. But if I were him, I would surrender myself. No matter how strong he is, he can't be another Triple Factor."

The village talked about it in high spirits. How they wished they could compete in the race.

After the last ringing, the bell melted and turned into smoke. The smoke billowed from one side to the other in the form of a giant hand covered with black hair. After a few seconds, the hand flew down to Armad's face, reaching out with its ethereal fingers to gouge his eyes out.

One moment the hand was far away, and the next it was just an inch away from Armad's face. Armad didn't even know what was happening and Nusi was just too slow to react in time. A gust of wind appeared and blew the smoke away, taking Armad's headband in the process.

Suddenly, the mark on Armad's forehead became apparent. The people of the village saw it.

"The mark on that boy's forehead, It looks... familiar."

"Isn't that the same mark that was shown to us now by the first world?"

"Don't tell me he is... this boy... is the... Heir!"

"Can he be the Heir!?"