MTM 117

Clunk.

He heard the sound as he was climbing the spiral staircase that seemed to have no end. An ominous sound of something misaligning echoed. Zed instinctively adjusted his grip on his weapon and pressed himself against the wall. But the enemy’s presence was no longer audible. Instead, the opposite wall pillar rotated and slid open.

Beyond it lay a pitch-black passageway, its depth impossible to gauge. The darkness, impenetrable even an inch ahead, felt eerily like the throat of a giant beast. It could be a trap. He briefly considered waiting for Robert, but Zed stepped forward quietly. The enemies wouldn’t be so kind as to wait for Robert to join them.

Zed tore a piece of his sleeve and hung it between the spiderwebs, hoping it would serve as a landmark for Robert if he followed later. Then, after one last check on Harto, who slept soundly in his inner pocket, he stepped into the darkness without hesitation. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the passageway door closed.

Thud, thud….

Zed walked alone through the narrow, dark passageway. The winding path felt like an endless maze. He paused occasionally to check on Harto. Only after confirming the steady breathing from his pocket did he silently continue on.

Whooooooosh-.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind and blinding light engulfed Zed. He reflexively closed his eyes, then slowly opened them. The sight before him froze him in place.

“……!”

The scene unfolding before him was unbelievable for the interior of a tower. He saw the cabin from his memory of first meeting Harto.

The surroundings were bleak beyond words, facing a winter even harsher than before. Gray clouds weighed on the sky, threatening sleet at any moment. The sun had vanished, but pale rays of light pierced intermittently through the clouds, illuminating the cabin.

‘Is this… a hallucination based on my memories…?’

There was no other way to explain it. He didn’t know how deep Magnus had delved into his past, but the fact that even his precious memories shared only with Harto had been invaded filled him with disgust.

Zed tightened his grip on his weapon and walked toward the cabin. A cold, biting wind blew, constantly changing direction. Worried it might affect Harto, he pressed one hand to his chest, trying to preserve as much warmth as possible.

Thump, thump….

The sound of a heartbeat, he didn’t know if it was his own or Harto’s, echoed in his ears. The sound grew louder and louder as he neared the cabin.

Squeak-.

The cabin door was open. The first thing that caught his eye when he stepped inside was the silhouette of a man standing with his back to him before the fireplace. Zed stopped in his tracks and stared at the figure’s back.

The man, leisurely warming his hands before the roaring flames, slowly turned his head. A beautiful face, painted like a picture by the flickering red light, was revealed.

“I’ve been waiting. My brother.”

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Harto met Crown Prince Magnus in a dream. It was in the cozy cabin where he and Zed had built precious memories. Though they had never met, Harto instinctively knew who he was.

Magnus was a beauty, cool and elegant, resembling Zed yet entirely different. But his skin, pale and devoid of color, seemed too unreal for a living person. Perhaps he was a demon wearing an angel’s mask. Magnus smiled at Harto and showed him something.

As he stepped aside, Harto saw not a warm fireplace but an altar. 

Blackened, rotting branches and unidentifiable bones were grotesquely tangled together, and dangling between them were heads dripping with blood that hadn’t yet dried.

As the shadows of dead bodies flickered like smoke above the flames blazing in the fireplace, Harto wanted to run from this place.

But strangely, his body wouldn’t budge. Though his heart pounded at the horrific sight, his body moved calmly toward Magnus. It was strange. It felt as if his entire body was being controlled by someone else.

Magnus silently watched Harto and opened his mouth.

“I can feel what you want to say just by looking into your eyes.”

His voice was eerily vivid.

“Hmm, yes… We’re not exactly on friendly terms to be having a warm conversation face-to-face.”

Magnus smiled, a bitter smile or perhaps a light jest, and slowly ran his hand over the mantelpiece, now fallen into ruin. Drip. Drip. Blood mixed with wax dripped from his touch, igniting the flames. A foul stench filled the air. Harto wanted to pinch his nose immediately, but he couldn’t move a single finger.

‘…Huh?’

Then, Harto suddenly looked down and gasped in shock. The figure before him wasn’t his usual self. It was a muscled frame, and in one hand was the heavy greatsword Zed always carried.

‘This isn’t me? Zed? No way… Am I inside Zed’s body right now…?’

He tried to cry out in shock, but no sound came out. Harto, unable to even hear Zed’s voice, the true owner of this body, was now facing Magnus through Zed’s eyes.

As Harto was in turmoil, Zed repositioned his grip on the sword. Just as the blade flashed, poised to strike Magnus’s throat, Magnus’ gaze met Harto’s. No, more precisely, it seemed to see Harto hidden within Zed’s shell.

“I sense no holy power.”

Magnus had already seen through everything, including the fact that Zed’s holy power was suppressed. He arrogantly lifted one corner of his mouth, as if the blade aimed at him meant nothing.

“Ares, did you receive a prophecy too?”

Zed’s body trembled at the mention of’prophecy’.

“I saw it. My death.”

The moment those words flowed from Magnus’s mouth, his heartbeat surged. Harto felt it too. But it wasn’t certain if it was solely Zed’s heartbeat. It felt as if the souls of both men were strung together on a single thread.

“I was destined to die without power.”

Magnus wore a self-deprecating smile, yet his eyes held a fierce madness.

“It was a death sentence.”

‘No way…’

Anxiety overwhelmed Harto. He recalled the original novel’s ending for the Crown Prince, that wretched, vain death described in just a few lines. Yet nowhere in the original text did it mention him receiving a prophecy of death.

“How could one facing death not go mad? It’s a weight unbearable for ordinary humans who’ve never experienced death.”

Magnus had chosen not to accept his fate like Harto, but to sever the very leash of that fate.

“And I…”

Magnus, who had been motionless before the fireplace, picked up a small box. He murmured softly.

“As of today, I gain that power.”

Having spoken those words, Magnus met Zed’s gaze. Yet he was seized by the overwhelming certainty that he was staring directly into the ‘self’ within Zed, not Zed himself.

Click.

‘Ah… No…!’

The instant the box’s lock released, Harto sensed its danger. It was a catastrophe that must never be opened. Harto screamed inwardly, trying to snatch the box away, but his body wouldn’t budge. If this continued, Zed would be in danger.

Crack!

In that instant, a crackling sound like a barrier shattering echoed through the frozen time. Harto’s consciousness, which had been in a catatonic state, forcibly awakened and shot out of Zed’s embrace. In that split second, Harto inflated his body, transforming into a shield blocking Zed.

“…Harto!”

Zed reached out toward him, but it was already too late. An aura of pitch-black darkness surged up through the opening box, instantly engulfing the entire cabin, Harto, Zed, and everything within.