The Fallen Curse

The hooded man and Safwane walked to an alley, the atmosphere was tense until the man finally took off his hood.

He was a young man with blond hair and grey eyes, who gave Safwane a cheerful smile.

"We finally meet, Safwane" said the man happily.

Safwane was surprised, he quickly unsheathed his katana and placed it on his neck.

"How do you know who I am?" said Safwane seriously.

The young man simply raised his hands.

"I've heard about you from your sister" said the young man calmly. "I'm Kaiser, the prince of Shattered Realms" he added.

"More reason to kill you, don't you think?" said Safwane.

Kaiser smiled.

"It may be, but I assure you that I am just someone who wants to be your friend, I didn't want you to be executed and I'm glad you were able to escape safely" said Kaiser, keeping a smile.

"And why should I believe you?" asked Safwane curiously.

Kaiser sighed.

"Sheath your katana"

After those words, Safwane's hand began to move on its own and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop.

"Among the qualifications of the singularities, mine is one of the highest, I could kill you or hand you over without you having the chance to fight..." explained Kaiser.

On the other hand, Safwane bit his lip, he had realized that no matter how much he trains, a normal human could not overcome an enlightened one, there are barriers that human effort cannot break down.

"Safwane, are you okay?" asked Kaiser worriedly as he placed his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Yeah... so what do you want?" Safwane said as he pushed the prince's hand away.

"To be your friend, the stories your sister told me made me think you're amazing" Kaiser said as he smiled again.

"My sister... huh"

Safwane's sister is the reason the young man's parents are still alive, the reason is that after abandoning Safwane they had another daughter, who was born as a genius and was beautiful, that made the parents and the emperors of Shattered Realms make an arranged marriage, so they moved to the city before the massacre.

She, unlike the other villagers, was always curious to know what her brother was like and often met with the grandmother to find out how he was, despite that they never had a conversation.

"You see, the city is now full of enlightened ones so you won't be able to find accommodation, how about you come to the palace, since no one will know who you are there won't be any problems" said Kaiser as he put on his hood.

"I wouldn't be comfortable, I'll stay in the suburbs if that's the case"

"I see, then come with me, I'll tell you about the situation we're in" said Kaiser as he left the alley.

Safwane still didn't trust the prince, but after seeing his singularity, he knew that he would have already handed him over if that was the case.

As the two walked through the crowd, they ended up entering a restaurant.

"I can be comfortable here" said Kaiser as he took off his hood again.

The restaurant looked luxurious, and therefore there weren't many people in it.

"Do you want something to eat Safwane?" he asked as he called the waiter.

"I'm not hungry, I'm just telling you the situation."

"A rift is going to open soon, that's why the nightmares have been decreasing in number making the rift going to be horribly dangerous," Kaiser explained.

"I've heard that you can stay in there for a long time, is that true?" Safwane asked.

"Yes, when you enter a rift you must imagine that you are in a completely different world, that is the domain of the divine beast, the characteristics of that rift will be governed by the characteristics of the divine beast," Kaiser replied, as he watched a lobster being placed on his table.

Safwane drooled.

"Waiter, bring me another lobster..." Kaiser said with a smile. "The nightmares in there are incredibly strong, much stronger than in this world since they are enhanced by the curse of the abyss," he added.

"But, if very strong enlightened ones get together, they could close the rift quickly, right? Why should enlightened ones enter, who wouldn't help at all?" asked Safwane, as he watched the lobster being placed on the table.

Safwane drooled again.

"Well, that's because when you enter the rift, people are sent to different places. The domain does this precisely to avoid that. Besides, you're not an enlightened one, why would you go in?" asked Kaiser, interested.

Safwane stopped eating the lobster and sighed heavily.

"I really don't know why I do it. I've already had my revenge... I guess I do it to pass the time," answered Safwane with slight sadness.

"You must have a passion for fighting to decide to pass the time like that," said Kaiser mockingly.

"Don't believe it..."

"By the way, how can you see me or the lobster if you have your eyes covered?" asked Kaiser curiously.

Safwane's mind flashed back to when he went days without eating.

"...Training" Safwane replied as a shiver ran through his body.

"I see, by the way, I'm really worried about you going to the rift, there are sectors within it that are really dangerous and you might not find any other enlightened ones either." Kaiser said with some concern.

"It's not like I have anything to do if I stay here... I'd rather die fighting than live a long life hiding." Safwane replied as he finished the lobster.

"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Death is the only thing that equals a failure like me and a successful prince like you, it's not something to be feared" Safwane replied.

Kaiser opened his eyes in surprise, he always thought that humans feared death, since they always look for ways to try to prolong life, but he realized that there are exceptions.

"You know... The beauty of life is being able to constantly fight for what you want, if we were immortal that would make life something we don't value and the time for which we used to give anything would now be insignificant"

The young prince didn't know how to feel about Safwane's words, for some reason he felt guilty.

"You're good with words," Kaiser said mockingly.

Safwane smiled.

"There's a lot of commotion in the streets, don't you think?" Kaiser said again as he looked towards the door.

Safwane on the other hand was confused, thanks to the fact that he could sense the energy of things he could notice something that the prince couldn't, a large accumulation of energy was forming on the outskirts of the city.

"Let's go out," Safwane said worriedly as he stood up from his chair.

Kaiser didn't seem to understand anything, but he knew it was something important whatever was happening out there.

When they went outside they saw how the sky had turned black like darkness itself, the only thing that illuminated the darkness was a huge crack that gave off a deep red.

Even though it was far from Shattered Realms, it rose up to the sky, generating terror even without needing to get close.

"Isn't it very big?" Safwane asked ironically.

"Could it be..." Kaiser replied between nervous laughs.

The citizens had gone mad, faced with this threat they didn't even think that the enlightened ones could stop him.

"Citizens of Shattered Realms!" shouted a familiar voice.

When all the citizens and enlightened ones turned around, they could see a man with a peculiar mustache, it was the man who was giving judgment to Safwane.

Safwane gritted his teeth.

"The emperor is going to speak..." said the man.

Behind him, a middle-aged man walked to the front, he looked as if Kaiser had aged, they were like two drops of water.

Kaiser clicked his tongue.

'So they don't get along, huh?' thought Safwane.

'Today is the day when the rift has been opened, just like a century ago when we lost practically all the enlightened ones, today that threat appears again' said the emperor.

Those words only raised the tension between the citizens and the nerves among the weak enlightened ones.

'But, today we are more prepared than a century ago and we are stronger, the enlightened ones are the pride of humanity and that is why they have the duty to protect it, you have the opportunity to go down in history as those who closed a rift, so do not waste it' added the emperor enthusiastically.

The morale of the enlightened ones rose through the air leaving cheers of victory in the air.

'That rift is nothing compared to your strength, so you must close it as quickly as possible' finished saying the emperor before turning around.

'He really thinks he is a hero for that' Safwane thought mockingly.

Even so, people seemed to stop being excited, in fact they even thought it was going to be an easy victory.

"That's the singularity of the mustached man, he can make people be influenced by words without them being good" explained Kaiser.

"I see"

Without much time to waste, the enlightened ones began to prepare for the imminent entrance to the crack, others said goodbye...

"Love, I'll be back so don't worry about me" said a thin man.

"My love, I believe in you so defeat those nightmares" answered a woman as they hugged each other.

'Yes... he's definitely dead' thought Safwane as he perplexedly observed the scene

Other enlightened ones talked among themselves to find out their strategies and what they will do when they enter:

"I will try to find a partner, I hope I find someone strong..." said a short man.

"Relax, the rift isn't that bad, I'll go find the divine beast on the way in, so I can finish it quickly" the words came from the cow that fought with Safwane when he entered the city.

The enlightened ones around him, seemingly weak, watched the cow with admiration.

'Incredible... a walking corpse' thought Safwane again.

And finally amidst all the preparation, farewells and talks, the door opened, the moment to enter the rift had arrived.