No…

Tell me I’m dreaming…

This is not what’s supposed to happen, isn’t it?

“R-Reno, wake up…” Kino tapped Reno’s cheeks gently in his arms. The boy was crushed by the falling debris of the tower from Beatrice’s fall. The wraith princess, on the other hand, has succumbed to her injuries after the fall destroyed her last core. Kino did not bother to check on her body to attend to Reno, but her face full of tears was smiling. Her original plan of becoming a goddess and replacing Magnus was only a facade she used as a coping mechanism for her longing. She wanted to continue Magnus’ legacy to make him live on, to believe that he was still there to look after them, that he will come back and change Agartha for a better tomorrow. But learning how a lowly human was given of Magnus’ power, she was frustrated. If he was really dead, he should have at least passed it to her. To get closure and answers on why he abandoned them in that forest.

“You were the only people he was thinking about during his final moments.”

How can he be so sure? Did Magnus talk to him regarding his life? That’s what I’d like to know, once I meet him in Paradise.

Beatrice closed her eyes and accepted her death. Nothing is saving her anymore, all her cores were gone. She could still hear and see the blurry surroundings for a bit. Kino Rosen was mourning someone a short distance away from her, his younger brother he brought to safety during their battle who apparently followed after him. The boy who befriended her that day, and taught her a bit of a silent language since he couldn’t hear the world around him.

Beatrice raised her hand as if reaching for the boy. She’ll die soon, but if only she could pass her vow to him, he could still be saved…

I think I get it now. Maybe… This was the same reason why Magnus chose Kino as his vessel when he entered this world, to save his life… in a situation similar to this.

Yet her last core planted on her upper back has flickered for the last time until it completely shut off. A sign that means the wraith princess has fallen.

“Beatrice? Beatrice…!”

Beatrice opened her eyes. The dark environment has changed into a field of flowers. She noticed her dress has changed too, from a bloody red ruffle hem dress and brown combat boots to a white floral dress and sandals. There was also a flower crown on her head, and her scythe was gone.

“Beatrice!” She looked for the familiar voice that she badly wanted to hear that kept calling for her. At the end of the flower field, there was a silhouette of a man before the sunset. At first glance, she already knew who it was.

He was right… She pertained to the guy she was fighting seconds ago when she was alive.

As her eyes adjusted and saw the man’s face more intently, for the first time, Magnus Everhart looked normal.

Ordinary.

Simple.

Not a god they expected him to be.

She genuinely smiled. I guess he’s right again.

She tucked the hair behind her ears from the breezy wind that sways her and smiled with non-stop tears streaming down her face. Beatrice waved her hand to respond.

I guess we are all the same.

We never really wanted to be god.

We only wanted to be heard.

“I’m here.”

In the Paradise, we dreamed of.

“Reno, please… wake up… B-Big bro is here…” The tears that won’t stop falling down his cheeks would fall on the child’s pale face.

Still, there was no response.

The injuries Reno suffered were so severe, with broken bones, wounds, and bleeding everywhere. Kino never wished to see him in that state. His poor baby brother…

Kino stayed there on the ground floor of the ruined tower, calling for his brother’s name. He kept opening his foresight on repeat hoping at every 30 seconds of the future, Reno will show signs of life. Even just for a moment, he would gladly hang on to it. He did it over and over again but hopelessness prevails a little more after each minute.

Reno can’t just leave him like this. The most important person for him in this world, the only remaining family he has left. How can he fail to save him, out of all people?

Kino hugged his little brother’s body and whined as if the tightened hug could bring him back to life. He couldn’t blame Reno or anyone else but himself. He was too focused on his fight with Beatrice. He could only imagine the fear he felt when he was left all alone in that dark ruined apartment unit, that the only thing he could think of was to look for his big brother to feel safe.

I was so careless… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!

“P-Please, come back… I can’t lose you… R-Reno, please… I-It’s over, I’m here… y-you can wake up now…”

His heart was breaking into thousands of pieces he didn’t have the urge to regenerate his broken body when he knew he had to. Maybe if he brings Reno to a hospital, the doctors can still return the boy back.

But then all of a sudden, he felt his little heart beating. Kino looked at Reno’s face dumbfounded.

He’s alive!

“R-Reno!” He hugged him tighter protectively, regenerating his arms and legs so he can move and carry him outside. The little boy tried to make a sound, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even produce tears from too much pain. “Reno, I-I love you, you’re going to be alright. We’ll get you treated, o-okay? I-I’m so sorry…” Kino’s voice kept breaking. “I-If they don’t… I’ll force them. I have a w-wraith curse inside m-me… Big brother will do everything…” He convinced them both.

Or… Or…

Magnus has been interrupting inside his head again.

No! I’ll only make it worse if I save him with this curse! I can’t let him lose himself like Solar.

But it’s the only way to save him…!

But I don’t want him to cause destruction as Solar did! Like Beatrice did!

But as long as he’s with me, he’ll be fine…

I don’t want him to suffer from this curse!

Do you think he isn’t suffering now? Do it! Or he dies!

Despite the hesitation, Kino retracted his awakened claws to pierce Reno’s heart, but bright light from outside the tower shined in their direction.

It was the hunters. They found him.

Kino stepped back in defense and was about to open his foresight when a figure stepped in to show himself.

“S-Sir Parker…”

It was his captain, and behind him are the night shift hunters he was unfamiliar with. There were vans surrounding them, heralds with energy balls in their hands, enforcers ready to shoot, and dealers ready to attack with their sabers.

“My shift was over, yet I got called and informed regarding the Slayer from my team who has been terrorizing downtown in the middle of the night.” Parker clenched his jaw. The disappointment was visible in his eyes. “Rosen, you’ve murdered hundreds of people.”

“No, I didn’t! I-It wasn’t…” Kino turned behind to look at Beatrice’s body. The girl died minutes ago.

“And what is that on your hand?”

He turned back to face Parker. The captain gazed at his claws. “I-It’s my brother, Sir. He got involved, please save him. H-He’s still alive…” Kino took a step forward.

“Stop right there.” The hunters warned and aimed their guns.

“B-But—”

“Did you forget the contract you’ve signed?” Parker reminded him. “You bring a little bit of threat to humanity, you’re dead. Did you forget that while you’re killing women and children?”

“But it wasn’t me, I swear! I was trying to stop the one who was doing it—”

“No, you did not. Didn’t you only think about yourself?” The inner voice inside him said.

How he wanted to laugh. Right. Who am I kidding? But if I have to lie, for Reno’s sake…!

“I-I was trying to—”

Parker interrupted him with a sarcastic smirk. “I guess they were right. You will always be a devil that will endanger humanity. From the start, you were never human. And the biggest mistake we made was to think that you are.”

Kino took another step back and observed his surroundings. He didn’t think that day would come soon when he’d get misunderstood as an enemy.

That day, if he just rejected the hunter job, his life would turn out differently, wouldn't it?

He gulped his dried throat. “I’d be willing to die, just please save my brother…”

BANG!

Huh?

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Everything that happened was the slowest moment of his life. Reno’s blood sprayed all over Kino’s face and body, and all he could do was stare horrifyingly at the gun Parker used to shoot the both of them.

“NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!” Kino’s legs gave out from the gun wounds and he was forced to kneel. He looked at his brother’s face. Reno has been shot in his head and body, his eyes were open but there was no light anymore.

He had died.

Killed by the person Kino has been looking up to.

“RENOOOO!!!” Kino screamed at the top of his lungs and hugged his brother’s body tightly. All the tears he thought had emptied have freshly streamed down his face.

No!

NO!

NO!!!

“WHY?! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU KILLED HIM!!!”

Kino didn’t think he’d be capable of feeling an intense kind of anger in his life until that very day. His bloodshot eyes looked directly at Parker’s emotionless face.

He concluded that all this time, he was the monster between the two of them.

“I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!” He growled in a deep tone, clutching Reno’s body tightly, as he let himself be consumed completely by his full awakening form.

Parker looked at him pathetically and kept his emergency pistol pointed at him. Despite the emotionless expression, a mix of anger and disappointment remained evident in his eyes. “I can’t let you create a new threat to humanity after Solar and this stunt you pulled, Rosen. This is the end.”

“Rosen.” Another familiar voice called for Kino from behind. He looked to his side and saw Pierre Yue and President Eve. The older Yue was holding a small device in his hand. Like Parker, and the hunters surrounding him, Pierre was looking down at him as if he was the most disgusting villain they ever encountered in history.

They didn’t even bother to hear his side because he’s a wraith devil. They just assumed that this was his responsibility. Aside from that, they killed his innocent brother who was still alive.

Why did I ever side with these horrible people?

“You failed us.”

Pierre Yue pressed the device in his hand, blowing up his head.

1 month later…

A woman in a cloaked figure has entered the dark alleyway leading to an apartment complex scheduled to be demolished soon. She observed the surroundings with her sharp eyesight. The evidence of the battle between the two H-type wraiths that led to the killing of hundreds of civilians in downtown Itaport was still seen in the ruins. From its cracked building walls, dried blood, and destroyed furniture everywhere, the crime scene was covered in dirt and dust in a short amount of time. It was ordered not to be cleaned by WHA for further investigation until the demolition date.

The woman touched the dusty ground of the basketball court where a portion of dried blood was. It was the first time that her master allowed her to come with him for an independent investigation. She cannot return to him unless she brings a shred of useful evidence.

A yawn from a dark corner was eventually heard. The woman met the sleepy silver pair of orbs of her master. The man just woke up, yet he looked tired again.

“Enough. We wouldn’t find him in a place he once stepped on already.”

“Do you really think he’s alive, Master?”

The man only smirked. “My speculations have never been wrong. Not a single bit. Now come, Solar. We shouldn’t waste our time here.”

END OF VOLUME 1