Episode 2: The Emotionless Child (Part 2)
Rain continued falling on the darkness-shrouded clearing. Weapons clashed everywhere, sparks momentarily illuminating the surroundings with each collision.
But for Karon, that faint light alone sufficed to grasp the terrain.
"Die!"
"Grahh!"
The number of assailants remained unknowable. They moved through shadows, black cloaks fluttering as they concealed themselves.
Their charging speed proved alarmingly fast, their attacks vicious. Meanwhile, the mercenary band's numbers dwindled steadily.
"Huu."
Karon instinctively maximized his auditory and visual senses. Immediately, people's breathing sounded as if right beside him, and he could clearly see rainwater splashing off blades.
Then he spotted Glion vomiting blood as he collapsed. Karon rushed to examine him - the man's lower body already severed past the midpoint.
"Glion."
"Ka...ron...run..."
The man murmured while staring at Karon. The boy glanced around.
Could he survive by fleeing? Given his physical state, likely not.
Karon stared fixedly at Glion again, as if etching his final moments into memory.
"Kheuk...This was Scottz's...embezzled money...our windfall...?"
Meeting Karon's expressionless gaze, Glion died with a smile clinging to his lips.
Following mercenary custom, Karon closed the dead man's eyes before resuming his search for his parents.
Soon he found Anesa battling a black-cloaked assailant who'd covered even his head. She already bore multiple fatal wounds.
Her opponent stood twice as large as other attackers, with horrifically crimson eyes glowing beneath his cloak - demonic in appearance.
Stumbling backward, she finally tripped over a mercenary corpse and fell.
The cloaked assailant's lips twisted into a grotesque smirk.
As he swung his greatsword downward, a dagger buried itself in his thigh.
Though sizable for a dagger, it looked pathetically small against the giant's frame.
The hand gripping it belonged to Karon, who barely reached the giant's waist.
The halted assailant looked down at Karon with peculiar interest.
"Absolutely no presence..."
After muttering incomprehensible words in a frosty tone, he smashed his pommel into Karon's chest.
"Kkh!"
Karon flew backward, crashing against a rock before crumpling to the ground.
"Karon!"
Anesa scrambled desperately toward him. The giant simultaneously strode forward, raising his greatsword anew.
Clang!
A pure metallic ring echoed as Feather materialized to block the strike.
Feather stood in dire condition - blood gushed from numerous wounds across his body, streams from a forehead injury masking his face.
"Anesa...Take Karon and go! Now!"
The giant's crimson eyes blazed ferociously as scarlet energy coiled around his greatsword.
Crack!
Feather's sword shattered upon contact. The greatsword continued unimpeded, shearing through from shoulder to arm with monstrous strength.
"Feather!!"
By the time Anesa's wail echoed across the clearing, no surviving mercenaries remained.
Thud.
Anesa rushed to Feather's collapsed form, supporting his body while glaring at the assailant with tear-filled eyes.
"You! You demonic bastards!"
Ignoring her cry, the greatsword swung again. Feather instantly shielded her body with his own.
Shhk!
Anesa and Feather collapsed in Karon's line of sight.
Regaining consciousness, Karon's shaking gaze found his parents' fallen forms.
Feather already breathed his last. Anesa clung to fading consciousness, desperately reaching toward Karon.
Karon's body froze statue-still. Yet his pupils quivered violently, as if earthquakes racked them.
"Ugh..."
Sudden, vice-like pain gripped his skull. Had some previously unfelt emotion emerged? His face now bore confusion and bewilderment.
Though unaware, this was likely sorrow.
Then her hand stretched out.
"Ka...ron..."
Karon grasped her blood-slicked hand. Instantly, his agonizing headache vanished like a lie.
Anesa tightened her grip, struggling to continue.
"Your...ability...God's blessing...Survive...somehow..."
Thunk!
The greatsword pierced her back. Blood geysered, drenching Karon completely.
After long staring at his parents' still-warm corpses, Karon slowly raised his head to gaze at the giant.
His eyes held not anger, but utter transparency and emptiness.
Unknown to all, this emptiness signaled Karon's fury reaching its zenith.
The giant narrowed his eyes at Karon.
Had he ever witnessed such a gaze in similar circumstances? Absolutely not.
An uncanny chill crept down his spine.
"Finished cleaning up?"
A man approached on horseback - blue hair, azure eyes, pale complexion and slender build. His noble attire and indigo cloak completed the aristocratic image. He casually twirled a fist-sized crimson orb.
Annoyed by the drizzling rain, he pulled up his hood.
"We've retrieved the Demon's Orb. Let's depart."
"The child..."
At the blue-haired man's words, the giant stepped aside, pointing at Karon.
Only then did Karon enter the noble's view.
"How? I sensed no presence, yet a child lives."
The noble's eyebrows arched. He tugged his reins toward Karon, eyeing the dagger in the giant's thigh before scrutinizing the boy.
Karon's face remained impassive, gaze hollow - unimaginable for someone who'd just witnessed his parents' deaths.
Unbeknownst to them, Karon was memorizing every strand of their hair.
One day, he'd track them down and dismember them.
"This runt did that?"
"Yes. Felt nothing."
The giant answered hoarsely while inspecting his thigh. The noble stroked his chin, snorting in amusement.
"Intriguing."
"How to handle him? Sparing him invites future trouble."
The noble sharply interrupted.
"Sell him to slavers."
When the giant looked puzzled, the noble continued with a venomous smile.
"If my instincts hold, he'll cling to life and return for vengeance. That too could prove entertaining."
He finally addressed Karon directly.
"Poor luck, brat. Shouldn't have guarded this caravan. Call it fate if you will."
The noble whirled his horse, blue cloak billowing.
The giant gave Karon one last displeased look before lightly tapping the boy's head with his pommel.
Days later.
Clatter...
Clatter. Clatter.
"Ugh...Khh!"
Wagon vibrations roused Karon to skull-splitting pain. He clutched his head, foaming at the mouth as convulsions wracked his pale form.
Someone suddenly cradled his head. Surprisingly, Karon briefly felt comfort before slipping back into sleep.
Like a mother's embrace.
More days later.
"Wake up! You maggots!"
Karon awoke to curses and a rod jabbing his ribs. Bolting upright, he saw the girl who'd shielded him - similar age, tangled hair hiding jewel-like eyes, now trembling under a brutal man's whip.
He quickly self-checked. Shackles bound his wrists and ankles, but limbs remained intact.
Karon instinctively fingered the pendant at his neck - his mother's sole memento. Unconsciously, he'd grown to cherish it.
He indifferently surveyed the bustling slave market. Cries of merchants and slaves alike assaulted his ears.
"Out! Now!"
The wagon's iron door clanked open. Someone grabbed Karon's nape and hurled him onto a small platform.
An elderly slaver hauled him up, shouting.
"Healthy boy here! Sound body, clean teeth! Perfect for chores! Starting at 500 shillings!"
Jeers erupted instantly.
"Eh! He's half-dead!"
"Skinny stick's useless!"
"Trying to con us? Sell damaged goods!"
True to their words, Karon appeared cadaverous - lifelong inactivity and poor appetite having rendered him skeletal. Pale face, sunken eyes, lips crusted with dried blood and spittle.
"Ugh, bad luck. Where'd you catch this sick chicken? Send him to the Colosseum. Beast fodder earns coppers at least."
"Understood."
The slaver kicked Karon to an underling before beckoning the next slave.
"Next!"
The slaver's shout summoned the girl beside Karon. She reached toward him with terror-stricken eyes as guards dragged her away.
Karon kept glancing back, searing her image into memory.
Later.
Karon found himself before an immense circular Colosseum. Marble and brick formed towering walls adorned with arched, patterned windows. The structure loomed so high viewers needed to crane their necks.
He suddenly realized - this was Pontania, capital of the Rob Empire. Childhood memories surfaced of passing this Colosseum with his mercenary band.
His mind already mapped every route from slave market to arena.
"Goods delivery!"
A man shouted at the Colosseum's underground entrance. Gatekeepers accepted meager coins before thrusting Karon into the depths.
Iron shackles made repeated falls inevitable as guards dragged him through blood-stinking tunnels. Faint lighting revealed indistinct shapes - piled corpses in one corner, blood rivulets snaking through gutters.
Elderly figures emerged, blankly daubing Karon with blood from the channels. He emotionlessly observed his crimson-coated body.
"Odd one. Scared mindless?"
The escorting soldier stared curiously. Most victims either screamed or collapsed by now - this calmness defied reason.
Their journey continued upward. Steps passed countless wounded on stretchers, blood-drenched weapons littering the path. Brightening light signaled their surface approach.
At the arena entrance, countless blood-smeared children already trembled before massive closed gates. Crowd roars beyond hinted at imminent opening.
Creeeak.
Right on cue, the gates groaned open. Guards prodded children forward with spears.
Assessing the situation, Karon stepped first into the Colosseum.
His expression remained impassive - inconceivably so for a fourteen-year-old.
