The Path of Ruin

Kael had heard before that the king, or rather most of the kings who ruled his kingdom, were powerful men. And he knew that this was no simple story. Because the neighboring kingdoms were always afraid of Arcanoa. And the reason for this was the king himself.

He had always thought that kings were powerful simply because they were kings, and he had never questioned it. There was no need to do so.

But now... he understood much better. Each of these kings was 'powerful' for a reason. And that reason was... a blessing. A special blessing that had been in the Arcanoa bloodline for a very long time.

The blessing gave its user strength for each life taken and a slight healing that took effect instantaneously. The stronger the person or thing slain, the greater the reward.

In the short term, the effect was too small to notice. But in the long term, after several years of having this blessing... things were very different. As the amount of power accumulated through blessing increased, the gap between other people and the user widened.

How was the blessing transferred, then? It was quite simple. When the previous user was killed, the blessing was transferred to the murderer. It was as simple as that.

But... that was not the only special thing about this blessing. It was designed to be used only by descendants of the Royal Family of Arcanoa and worked best on them.

But what happens when a non-royal, like Kael, gets his hands on it? The blessing lost its healing properties completely, for example. Its ability to strengthen its user was greatly weakened. But that was not all. This blessing... became a curse. A curse that demanded that its user constantly take life, a curse that constantly threatened to stop his heart.

Kael felt himself sweating as he thought about the tattoo on his chest. It was right over his heart, constantly reminding him of danger. He couldn't see it now, but... under his skin, he felt like there were dark chains wrapped around his heart. Chains that could squeeze his heart and kill him at any moment if their hunger was not satisfied...

He swallowed. The king's words echoed in his mind again and again. Now, he understood much better what he meant. He hadn't lived yet, but... he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant when the curse was hungry.

'So... even though I'm a normal person, I have to kill someone or something all the time?'

He wasn't sure of the scale of things he should kill. He was sure that killing an insect would not satisfy the curse, but what about... a dog or a cat? A wolf, a normal person in their twenties?

How satisfied was the curse when it killed who or what? He didn't know the answer.

'I get a second chance but... like this?'

But, then... he paused. After a while of thinking, his lips curled upwards slightly. Now, it would be absurd for him to get a chance without paying any price, wouldn't it?

'I... Whatever.'

He forced himself to stand up.

So what if he had such a curse? So what if he has to kill things all the time, if he has to satisfy his curse to make his heart stop beating?

His job would be much easier if he was one of the Blessed. Although, technically, he was a Cursed now... and the curse he had wasn't a bad one. The more he killed, the more he would gain a 'power', even if he didn't know exactly what kind, and his curse wanted him to kill people all the time. So, the demand of the curse and the power it provided was self-fulfilling, in a kind of a cycle.

'I'm going to keep living, I'm going to do my best to keep living at least until I kill that bastard. No more whining, no more giving up, no more wishing I was dead... I'm going to use my second chance as best I can.'

Kael turned around, nodding decisively. It was time to leave this room. He had to start walking away from the palace. He was wasting every passing second.

So, he moved towards the door of the room. But then... he paused again. Slowly, he turned around, glanced around the room. He looked towards the body of the robed man. He went over to it, bent down slightly. Next to him, lying on the floor, was a dagger.

'Just in case...'

He picked up the dagger and gripped it tightly in his left hand. Now, he had a proper weapon. He didn't have to use one of those shabby old knives whose sole purpose was to cut plants. It was certainly a more reliable method of self-defense.

So... he looked back one last time before leaving the room. He imagined what would happen, what the people who had come here would do when they found out what had happened.

The Kingdom of Arcanoa would no longer exist.

He took a deep breath. He was not supposed to think about empty things, he was supposed to worry about his own life. So... he finally walked out of the room. He left the king's body, his chamber, behind. He went back into the corridor where the rooms of the royal family were. He didn't pay any attention to the bodies on the floor or anything else, he walked straight to the stairs leading down to the fifth floor.

The bodies were just beginning to smell. It wasn't overpowering yet, but... he couldn't say it was pleasant. Before, it wouldn't have bothered him so much, but... for some reason, now, he felt extra uncomfortable. So, he covered his nose and continued on his way. He walked towards the stairs to the fourth floor.

He was cautious, expecting to encounter a creature. His ears were alert enough to detect every sound, his eyes... clearer than ever.

In fact, all his senses were like that. Who knows, maybe the curse had enhanced his senses... He wasn't sure, but he was sure he could see and hear better than before. Still, he didn't complain. Why would he?

He kept moving forward, encountering no creatures. Finally... he entered the corridor where Manar and the other knights were fighting. He saw the two knights lying on the floor, went to them, and stopped.

These two... were the two who had blocked the creatures as he ran away.

"Thank you..."

He thanked them sincerely. But... he did nothing more. There was nothing he could do anyway.

He took a few more steps. He found another knight leaning against the wall. One of his arms was missing, it was probably somewhere in the commotion. His skin was pale, his eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. There was a hole in the middle of his armor. He had blondish curly hair.

He squinted, bent down. He closed Manar's open eyes.

"I... thank you. And I apologize."

He stood up again. He really wished he could do something. But... the dead were dead. He couldn't resurrect the dead even if he was sorry.

So... he kept moving forward. And no matter how far he went, he didn't meet a single creature. It was as if they had all disappeared. Or... they couldn't exist anymore, even if they wanted to, because the night was over. Although, Kael didn't think they could 'want' to. They were incapable of thinking, after all.

So, he went down to the third floor. Again, he encountered no creatures. So, he was now sure. There was not a single creature living in this palace now. It was impossible that he hadn't seen one by now. And just as he was thinking this... he paused again.

His eyes slowly traveled down to the floor, and right in front of his feet... there was a hand, as if trying to reach out to him. A hand as pale as everyone else's, a hand that had lost its color.

Kael raised his eyes, looked at the owner of the hand. He was severed from the waist down, it was several meters behind his torso. And the blood between these two body parts showed that this person was crawling painfully... as if trying to get somewhere.

"Kael, huh... That's a nice name."

The knight's words echoed in his mind, he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, rest in peace..."

And... he started moving forward again.

Soon, he passed the room where he had killed that maid, but he didn't go inside. He walked and walked... and reached the entrance hall of the palace. Still, he didn't stop and kept going.

After a short while... he came to the room where the old nobleman was. In fact, he was not going to go in, he was going to continue. But... he was curious. So, he opened the door slowly.

The last time he left the room, there was nothing wrong. But the scene now was... different. He could smell blood from inside. He could smell it everywhere, but... with a little focus, he could recognize it in this room.

It was coming from the wardrobe.

A smile appeared on his face. He walked to the front of the wardrobe and opened it, not caring about the creaking sound.

Before his eyes... there was a creature. It was dead, just like all the other creatures. The glow in its eyes was gone. Its clothes were bloody from the transformation, but the glow in its eyes was gone.

The old nobleman had touched the flower.

'He didn't come out of the wardrobe... did he transform just before the night was over?'

If so... it was funny. Even if he didn't know what he was like, from what he had seen, he could guess. It was a death fit for a nobleman like himself.

Kael paid no more attention to the nobleman, turned around, and went back into the corridor as if nothing had happened. Finally... he reached the room full of clothes. He entered calmly... and found exactly what he had expected.

On the floor was the servant whom he had pushed into the clutches of death. He was covered in blood, his eyes wide open as if to emphasize the pain he was suffering. The creature that had killed him... had eaten part of him. It was not a pretty sight.

"I'm sorry..."

And, like that, he approached the window, jumped over it without thinking too much, but this time paying attention to the shards of glass, and went outside. The sunlight on his face, the gentle spring breeze... they were relaxing. He even wanted to just stand where he was for a while and enjoy it.

But... he didn't have time for that.

So, he kept moving forward.

*(A/N: I will upload one chapter daily starting today, two if I'm in a good mood or if you surprise me with anything... you know what I mean :) )*