Chapter 3 - New Sun Order

The grey of the fog paled every colour in the forest, but it held no candle to the overflowing red blood that poured from Light's neck, spewing like water from a broken dam.

"Oh, no!" Light struggled to breathe as his hands pressed on his wound.

Meanwhile, the boy stood five feet away from Light. He appeared dishevelled and took wild breaths every second, wincing as the pain from his bruises assaulted him. He fell on his knees and squirmed in sheer agony.

Light and the boy glanced at each other, forming a temporary stalemate. Well, they were surely not on equal grounds. Light was smart enough to understand his situation. He was about to die, while the boy would live to fight another battle.

Light finally felt the cold grip of death. His eyes welled up with tears. 'After everything. I—It can't end here. It can't. I refuse to believe–'

The eyes of the boy landed on him. An overwhelming victorious intent stirring within them. 

'Ahh… I see. He thinks it's all over.'

'He probably thinks he is a genius for surviving an impossible ordeal. I'm just another trophy on his deck… probably his first. Ahhh, so this is how it ends, huh? Ridiculed by—by—.'

'Those eyes. Those arrogant eyes—'

"-Damn brat, stop mocking me with your eyes! Ahh, I will kill you!!"

Refusing to let death claim him, he clawed desperately towards the boy. 

 Suddenly, a mysterious energy surged from within Light. His skin turned slightly gray and putrid as the air around him took a complete overturn. Under this ominous mutation, his body grew bigger until he was half the size of a bear.

Of course, Light wasn't aware of the weird change in his body. All he felt was an increase in strength and the absence of fear and reasoning. In this state, he had no lingering emotion except rage… burning rage towards the snaky boy.

"Ahhh!! I'm going to kill you, boy!"

He lunged at the boy. The boy's face quickly shifted to surprise, not expecting a sudden revival, as he was tackled to the ground effortlessly.

Light snarled at him and clawed at his chest. It was a mystery how a regular human had grown beastly claws. However, the death-bound Light had gone too crazed to even ponder the question.

He continuously attacked the boy as the animalistic urges in him grew uncontrolled. All Light saw was pale red, but whenever he laid eyes on the boy, his sight turned even redder and he roared like a mad beast.

The two of them tussled on the ground until they hit a tree and were forced to untangle.

Light searched for the boy once more, but the fog hindered his sight. 

A mechanical whirling sound pierced through the forest. Light turned to the direction of the sound and froze at the beaming raygun in the hands of the bloodied boy.

'So it really ends here…'

The gun unleashed a ray of light that pierced through Light's skull. The once great man fell to the ground with a thud and his body began to jerk.

In fear of another shenanigan, the boy appeared atop Light's corpse and stabbed him. 

Then he stabbed again… and again… and again.

Each stab carried uncontrolled venomous intent. The boy seemed to have been possessed by a demon. Madness gripped him as he relished the violence and the joy it brought him. A wicked grin etched itself upon his face.

After a while, Light's body settled into an eerie stillness. The boy gazed at the Light, satisfied, and muttered while panting, "Freaking beast. I can't believe he transformed into a monster. Was he already infected before?"

'The item!' He suddenly remembered why he had taken a great risk to come here in the first place.

A minute later…

The boy found the item nestled in Light's backpack. A metallic box adorned with intricate inscriptions and a perplexing lock. 

Apart from that, there was an insignia drawn at the bottom of the box. 

Immediately the boy saw it, his body tensed. 'The ascent of the sun.'

A depiction of a blue sun rising above dark clouds, embraced by a golden areola.

The insignia in itself was a medium of incomprehensible terror and magnificence. It belonged to the ultimate victors of the apocalypse—the New Sun Order, colloquially known as The Order. The paramount organization was the architect of all the safe zones. The chosen champion of the Divine Truth.The head of the post-apocalypse government. To say the Order ruled the world was a great understatement.

'So it is true… Light did not purchase the item. He stole it from his superiors. Something like this would never be given to a middle-class worker,' the boy muttered in his mind.

As he opened the box, excitement and curiosity danced in his eyes, and he imagined what this meant for him. With this, his dreams would be fulfilled.

After the apocalypse, the human race had broken into two distinct species.

The first was the original predecessors. The Normies, totally regular humans, just going about their day, thinking about what food to eat or what porn to watch. Seventy percent of the current human population belongs to this species.

The other thirty percent were called many names. The Awakened. Evolved Humans. Adepts. Supernaturals. Superhumans. Human Warlocks. However, all these titles had one thing in common. They all perfectly capitulated what uniqueness this species had. This new species possessed a vast array of abilities and had access to a higher form of power called magic.

It was said that the Order ruled the world, and the awakened were the special forces used to conquer the world. 

But how did that relate to the "item"?

Well, that was simple.

The prima elixir sold by the Order was rumoured to be the key to becoming awakened. The only problem was that it was ridiculously expensive, which the boy took as a sign that the rumour was either true or that the Order really loved scamming regular people.

Either way, it was a risk the boy was willing to take, as it could change his life. By becoming an awakened, he had an increased chance of entering a prestigious academy, gaining a tremendous opportunity not many children had in the current era. So imagine his surprise when he accidentally heard a local "lord" was in possession of the prized treasure. All reasoning went out of the window and he staked his life for a steal.

A victorious smile played on the boy's lips as he watched the lock of the box sprung open.

"....."

Yet, in the next second, he stood rooted in shock as he gazed at the inside of the box.

Unbelievable!

Simply unbelievable!

This couldn't be true.

Empty?

The box was empty! The vial that should contain the potion had nothing in it.

'Could it be that…?' A train of thought hit the boy, and he glanced at Light's corpse.

'Light Dorin wasn't infected before our engagement. Did he drink the vial while I was distracted?'

'Did I really do all this for nothing? '

"Fuck!" For the first time in forever, Raven was really pissed.