NOVEL NEXT Chapter 215 – The Twins
The forest had gone quiet.
The screams of the Voidborn faded into the stillness, their monstrous forms no longer a threat to Vince. The once chaotic battlefield, filled with the roar of battle, was now eerily silent, save for the crackle of fading embers and the wind whispering through broken trees.
Vince stood tall, his body battered and bloodied. His left arm, now severed at the shoulder, was a painful reminder of the brutal exchange. But he didn't let it show. His stance was unwavering, his gaze locked onto the twins Alaric and Selene now standing before him, visibly beaten but still alive.
For a long moment, there was silence.
Vince's voice cut through the quiet like a knife, cold and measured. "You two... are still breathing."
Alaric, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths, managed to stand, his dark eyes filled with spite and pain. His right arm hung limply at his side, broken by Vince's earlier attack. Beside him, Selene was no better. Her expression was twisted in fury and exhaustion, her once-commanding aura now dimmed by the overwhelming defeat.
Despite their exhaustion, despite the crippling wounds they had sustained, there was something in their eyes, a strange, desperate resolve.
Vince's eyes narrowed, studying them both. "I don't understand. Why the Voidborn? Why the destruction?"
Alaric's lips curled into a bitter smile. "You think you can understand us now? After everything? You're a fool, Taishin." His voice was low but laced with venom. "You think we're the villains here? You think we're the monsters?"
Selene, struggling to stand, lifted her head. Her eyes, though bloodshot and worn, locked with Vince's. "We do what we must. Survival. The Void… it calls us. You wouldn't understand what it's like, to be bound by something that… devours you from the inside. Me and Alaric!!"
Vince's gaze softened, the first hint of genuine confusion crossing his features. "You're right. I don't understand. But I know what it's like to be consumed by something… to feel like you're drowning in your own power." He took a slow step forward, his eyes never leaving theirs. "But why? Why didn't you just give up the moment you realized you were losing?"
There was a pause.
Then, Alaric spoke, his voice quieter but with a strange bitterness. "You think this was about winning? About control? No. We're just trying to survive. You think we wanted this? To be consumed by the Voidborn, to be their puppets? No. We were just trying to escape... but even that was taken from us, me and Selene!!."
Vince's gaze faltered for a moment. He'd fought them, but he'd seen the anguish in their eyes, the desperation. They weren't driven by ambition or greed. They were trying to survive, just like anyone else. Just like he had once tried.
And that's when it hit him, the names. The names that had been echoing in his mind since the battle had started. Alaric… Selene… The names resonated with something deep within him.
"Wait…" Vince muttered under his breath. He took another step forward, his eyes narrowing with realization. "You're… you're the twins."
The sudden recognition caught the twins off guard. They exchanged a brief, confused glance before Selene spoke, her voice tight. "You… know who we are?"
Vince nodded slowly, his heart heavy. "I know you. Alaric, Selene… the cursed heirs. Your story is one of pain, of tragedy. You were born to families that sought power, and in the end, they sought to destroy you. But you survived?"
The twins flinched at the mention of their past. The weight of their history hung between them like a shadow.
Alaric's voice cracked with emotion as he stepped forward, despite the pain in his chest. "You don't know anything about us. What we've been through… What we've lost." His gaze turned to the ground, his fists clenched. "You think you can save us? You think you can just… fix it all with a few kind words?"
Vince's eyes softened. "I'm not here to fix you. I'm here because I understand. I'm here because I know what it's like to feel like you're drowning in the Void, to be consumed by it. I've seen it before." He stepped closer, his presence imposing yet strangely compassionate. "But I can help you. You don't have to continue this path. You don't have to be swallowed whole by the darkness."
Selene looked up, her voice raw, almost a whisper. "And why would you do that? After everything we've done? After everything we've lost? Why would you want to help us?"
Vince's gaze never wavered. "Because I see potential in both of you. Because I've seen what happens when people like you, people who've been broken, choose to walk a different path." He reached out, his gaze steady and resolute. "You don't have to keep fighting the Void. There's still time to change."
Alaric took a step back, a dark laugh escaping his lips. "Change? You really think we can change? After everything we've done? After the things we've seen?"
Vince didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at the twins not as enemies, but as two lost souls, drowning in their own despair. His voice was firm, filled with an unshakable resolve. "I think you can. But only if you stop fighting the inevitable. You were always meant to be more than just pawns of the Void. You have the power to decide your own fate."
The twins exchanged a glance. It was clear they were torn. There was something about Vince's words, something that resonated with the fragments of humanity that still clung to them.
But before either of them could speak, the moment of tension shattered.
In an instant, Alaric's expression shifted, his eyes flickered with something darker, more primal. With a sudden, desperate movement, he lunged at Vince, his shadow blade glinting in the dim light. Selene followed immediately, her hand outstretched as if to bind Vince with her own dark arts.
Vince didn't even have time to react. His left arm, the very one he had used to strike down so many of their Voidborn, was severed in a single slash.
The pain was excruciating. Vince's vision blurred as the shock of the wound spread through him. But through the haze, he saw the twins' faces twisted in agony, as if they had no choice.
"I'm sorry," Selene whispered.
But the damage was done. The moment had passed.
Vince collapsed to the ground, his severed arm lying in the dirt beside him. Blood poured from the wound, but there was no time for that now. There was only the unbearable weight of what had just happened.
"They escaped..." Vince muttered to himself, the realization hitting him like a wave. Despite his injuries, he couldn't afford to rest. His mind raced. (The Shard of Flesh wasn't the only relic here. The twins... what are they carrying?)
Every breath was a battle. His muscles screamed in protest as he attempted to push himself to his feet. His body betrayed him, but there was something more pressing now. He looked toward the trail of destruction the twins had left charred roots, the smell of Void ash, and the faintest trace of something else. It was more than just a fight for survival. This was something deeper, darker.
"Damn it…" Vince exhaled sharply, barely able to steady himself. His gaze fell to a broken seal charm around his wrist. The fragments hummed faintly, a low, ominous sound that seemed to reverberate deep within him. A bitter smile curled on his lips. "Sam... looks like your guess was right after all."
The wind howled, the night air cold against his fevered skin. For a moment, Vince thought he might collapse from the overwhelming pain. But then, as if summoned by his exhaustion, a whisper broke through the heavy silence.
"Oh, don't move, old man. You'll only make the bleeding worse."
Vince's head snapped up, his heart pounding as he searched the shadows. Emerging from the darkness was a figure tall, lean, graceful. His silhouette cut through the mist, his movements fluid, almost predatory. His porcelain and black steel mask gleamed in the pale moonlight, his eyes gleaming with cruel amusement.
Vince's bloodied lips parted in a snarl. "Who... the hell are you?"
The stranger tilted his head slightly, a smile curling beneath his mask. He stepped closer, crouching down beside Vince as though studying a dying animal. "You can call me Ryn."
Ryn's voice was calm, almost soothing, in contrast to the chaos of the forest around them. "You fought well. For someone who doesn't even use Shinrei, that's impressive."
Vince, seething with rage, spat blood onto the ground. "You're... with the Hollow Nine."
Ryn's smile widened, but it wasn't the smile of a friend. It was a smile filled with malice. "Not exactly. Think of me as... their messenger."
Vince tried to push himself up again, but his body refused to obey. His muscles screamed in protest, his vision swimming as the pain from his wound threatened to overwhelm him. "What... did you do to them..." His voice was raw, barely a whisper.
Ryn paused, his eyes glinting with something that was not just malice, but something far darker. "Nothing yet. The master will decide their purpose soon enough."
Before Vince could respond, the wind shifted again, and Ryn's body seemed to dissolve into a thousand shards of light, scattering into the mist. In mere seconds, the stranger was gone, leaving only the cold emptiness in his wake.
Vince collapsed back against the broken tree, his body racked with pain. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he thought he might slip into unconsciousness. The world tilted as he fought to stay conscious, the storm above gathering with ominous speed. The sky rumbled, distant thunder echoing in the heavens. Lightning crackled across the darkened clouds — faint, but growing closer.
"Master Isen...Sam... everyone… Juno…." Vince thought, his mind struggling to focus. His hand pressed against the rough bark of the tree, his blood slipping through his fingers like sand. He exhaled slowly, knowing that time was slipping away.
Far off, in some distant place maybe across a continent, or maybe just a heartbeat away, a butterfly's wing trembled.
To be continue