Chapter 4

My legs felt heavy as I walked, using the wall for support to keep moving while my breath came in gasps. Today was a terrible day, facing four mysterious people who fought using Beast Tigers was unfair. Fortunately, they left quickly when I managed to defeat two of their Beast Tigers.

Despite being in bad shape, I finally arrived at my destination. I slowly opened the library door with trembling hands. As I entered, my eyes immediately saw Old Man Joe sitting in the chair I usually used.

"Old Man Joe, there's something I want to ask," I said, sitting in the chair he usually occupied.

Time passed, but Old Man Joe didn't show any sign of responding. He had been lying on the table since I arrived and hadn't moved at all.

"Is he sleeping? Sigh ... this old man. He often scolded me for sleeping on the job, but he himself does it when I'm gone."

Not in a hurry to wake him up, I slowly regulated my breathing. However, I felt something strange about this old man.

"Hey, Old Man ...," I observed Old Man Joe for a moment and then gently shook his body.

Suddenly, Old Man Joe's body slumped, but he still didn't wake up. Panicking a bit, I immediately checked his pulse and ...

"What the ... is this ...?" I froze, my breath catching. "Why ...?"

It happened again ... what I had experienced before. When the tears fell, all the memories of the last five years spun in my head. This old man often scolded me, but he always treated me like his own child. Even in his final moments, Old Man Joe didn't want me to see his weakness. Argghhh.

The air felt colder in the empty library. There was no sound other than my frustrated cry. Until finally, I turned towards the door as a girl hurriedly entered.

The girl with long hair, whom I didn't recognize, froze seeing Old Man Joe's body lying on the table. Wasting no time, she quickly approached his corpse.

"I will not cry!" she said before I could speak to her. "This old man ..." It was clear that her words were contrary to her feelings.

***

The sun leaned towards the west, illuminating the earth with its slowly dimming orange light. The girl with long flowing hair and I had finished cremating Old Man Joe's body.

From our conversation, I learned that this girl was named Sunny Everdeen, the only disciple of Old Man Joe. I also found out that Old Man Joe had no wife, meaning he was alone all his life.

"It's time for me to go, Ars," Sunny said after taking a small urn containing Old Man Joe's cremated remains.

"It's almost dark," I replied. "Isn't it better to stay in the library overnight? You must have a long journey ahead to scatter those ashes, right? There's no harm in resting tonight ...."

Instead of accepting my offer, Sunny shook her head. "You're right, but I have my own reasons for leaving immediately."

"May I ask you something?"

Sunny tilted her head at my question. "Hm?"

"Can I join you to scatter those ashes in Old Man Joe's favorite place?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly.

Sunny smiled faintly, responding, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm sorry." She paused. "I can't take you with me, but if it's meant to be, we'll meet again someday."

It's unfortunate I couldn't go with her, but she had a point. "Then I'll entrust Old Man Joe's final resting place to you, Sunny!"

"Leave it to me!" Sunny immediately activated her right eye, which emitted a blue light. However, unlike Old Man Joe's eye or the eyes of the assassins who attacked me, Sunny's eye did not have a triangular pattern but rather a diamond shape. From a book I once read, this eye of Sunny's was one of the rare unique eyes.

The difference between this eye and the usual blue eye is not only in its pattern but also in the Beast possessed by its user. According to the book, an eye with a diamond pattern has a Beast Sphinx, a large black cat-like monster. Additionally, it has golden bracelets on its four legs, and on its head is a gold crown shaped like a coiled snake.

Without lingering, Sunny quickly mounted the Beast Sphinx while waving her hand. "See you again, Ars!"

I smiled faintly, waving back. "See you again, Sunny!"

Sunny then departed, waving her hand. For her, our next meeting might not happen, but for me, it definitely would. The reason was simple: I would search for her even to the ends of the earth! Not as Ars Salazar, but as the 'Cursed Man.'

"Alright, time to return to reality." I then walked back to the library. It would be a lie to say I wasn't still saddened by Old Man Joe's death. But what could I do about that fact besides accepting it?

***

The moon shone brightly, the air growing colder as the wind gently blew, scattering dry leaves. In a forest, dense trees stood in disarray, blocking the moonlight with their leaves.

During the day, the forest and its dense trees provided shade, but the darkness of the forest at night became a choice for people to hide and escape. Now that choice was taken by a young man with short hair fleeing with his father, trying to evade several security guards. The young man's father was accused of corruption through bribery to release a prisoner, leading to a death sentence.

"Father, hurry!" the young man shouted, pulling his severely wounded father along.

"Neville ...," the father said. "Kill me and save yourself."

"That will never happen, Father!" Neville stubbornly carried his father on his back.

"You're a good son, Neville," his father smiled faintly. "But you have to kill me to get the Beast. You want it, right?"

"Who wants a creature from hell?!"

"There’s no time, Neville. Hurry ...."

Just then, a Beast Tiger leaped high, blocking the path of the father and son. Neville stopped in his tracks, but the worst part now was the fact that they were surrounded by ten security guards and their Beast Tigers.

"Benjamin Donatien!" a security guard shouted. "Surrender now, you're surrounded!"

Unwilling to surrender, Neville racked his brain, searching for a way to handle the situation. "Damn, damn, damn! What now?!"

As Neville was on the verge of despair, his father whispered softly, "Neville ... I'm proud of you."

Neville froze as his right hand was covered in fresh blood. His heart momentarily stopped when his father took his last breath.

"Father!"

The sound echoed loudly in the forest, causing birds to scatter. Neville groaned, hugging his father's blood-soaked body tightly.

Neville remembered, moments ago his father had given him a small knife, then his father moved his hand to stab his own stomach. The event happened so quickly, making Neville feel as if he had killed his father himself.

"Bastard!" Neville's shout echoed again as blood flowed from his right eye.

Slowly Neville rose, looking at each security guard with his right eye glowing in the darkness. A black aura then enveloped Neville's entire body as his right eye, with a flower-like pattern, stared sharply ahead. Gradually, the black aura formed a Beast.

The Beast had the body of a skinny horse, its bones visible. It had small horns and black wings like a bat. The Beast formed by the eye with the flower-like pattern was not an ordinary Beast but a unique Beast named Beast Thestral.