Zen Felix arrived at the harbor of a small town he had never seen before. The cold wind stung his face. The name of this place was Torsgad.
But his thoughts were elsewhere, unable to settle on his surroundings. A slow-burning regret gnawed at his chest like embers beneath skin. The fury he had once unleashed had cost tens of thousands of lives in Paphilia—innocent people, many of whom never even had the chance to scream before turning to lifeless ash. Even though he could distinguish the wicked from the pure, the memory of indiscriminate slaughter haunted his conscience.
News of the massacre sent shockwaves across the empire. Every living creature, from humans to the other races, trembled at the sheer power Zen Felix had displayed. One wave of his hand, one outburst of wrath—thousands perished.
Inside the grand hall of the Dominion Valthorian Imperial Palace, Emperor Zarek Kaizar gazed at his two most trusted knights. His voice echoed across the marble chamber, sharp and commanding.
"I hereby appoint you both as agents of justice in the western territories of the empire. Head to Paphilia. Avenge the crimes committed by the Dark Prince."
The two figures stood firm before him, eyes burning with resolve.
"Yes, Your Majesty! We will not return until our mission is fulfilled!" shouted Vaedric Stormbane and Ravena Darkthorn in unison.
As elite knights of the Dominion Valthorian Empire, they operated under the direct authority of the Emperor himself—a power no one could dispute within the empire's domain.
As they left the hall, Vaedric turned to Ravena with a mocking smirk.
"Give it up, Ravena. I'll be the one to bring the Dark Prince's head back to the palace. You should go home and tend to your aging father."
Ravena's eyes narrowed, flashing with anger.
"What did you say?! My father is far more honorable than you'll ever be, Vaedric! And I'm not some weak girl who only knows how to powder her face!"
Vaedric let out a cold laugh.
"You're a leader handed power simply because of who your father is. There's no pride in that. You should think more about your future—perhaps marry a proper commander who can actually protect you."
Ravena lifted her chin, a frosty smile curling on her lips.
"I don't wait around to be chosen, Vaedric. I prefer to do the choosing myself."
Their argument ended without another word. Though they shared the same mission—to hunt Zen Felix, the Dark Prince—their methods could not be more different.
Vaedric set off first with a hundred elite soldiers, grizzled veterans seasoned by countless battles. Speed and brute force were their weapons.
Meanwhile, Ravena chose a more calculated approach. With a smaller but highly trained unit skilled in reconnaissance and tactics, she favored strategy over recklessness.
Both marched toward the same destination.
But only time would reveal who would find Zen Felix first—and more importantly, who would survive the hunt.
.
When Zen Felix finally arrived in Torsgad, he found a town untouched by the tragedy of Paphilia. Its people had yet to hear of the massacre, and that granted him a fleeting peace. But living among them proved far from simple.
His pitch-black skin drew immediate attention, casting him as a figure of suspicion and unease. Though he tried to blend in, many still kept their distance. Even so, he continued to help wherever he could—lifting heavy loads, fixing carts, doing odd jobs—yet his kindness was met with silence.
Until one day, a commotion broke out in the street. A merchant was being chased by a gang of debt-collecting thugs.
The man tripped and fell, receiving a brutal barrage of kicks. Without hesitation, Zen stepped forward to intervene.
"Sir, please... don't hit him anymore. He's had enough," Zen said, trying to defuse the situation.
A towering man, clearly the leader, looked at Zen with disdain and laughed.
"And who are you supposed to be? You dare stick your nose in our business?"
Before Zen could answer, a heavy fist crashed into his face. Then another. And another. Blood trickled from his nose, bruises blooming across his cheeks. The thugs laughed and walked away.
"Don't forget this. Tomorrow, we'll be looking for you," the leader growled before disappearing into the crowd.
But the worst blow came not from their fists—it came from the man he had saved.
"Why did you help me, freak? You probably hide your cursed body under those robes," the merchant sneered, then walked away without a hint of gratitude.
Zen slumped onto a stone, breathing heavily. He wiped the blood from his face, his bruises throbbing with pain.
"A freak who gets spat on after helping someone? I think you might be the unluckiest creature in the world."
Zen looked around, startled by the voice—but saw no one.
"I'm up here."
A girl stood atop a large rock. With a swift flip, she leapt down and landed gracefully in front of him.
"My name is Lumina da Lucia."
Zen blinked at her in confusion before muttering, "I'm Felix. Zen Felix."
Her eyes widened.
"What?! Your face—it's changed!" she exclaimed.
Zen frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Before you helped that jerk, your face was all dark. Now you look like... a normal human."
Zen fell silent. He hadn't looked in a mirror in ages, and her words left him more confused than ever.
"Here. Wipe the blood off your face first," Lumina said, handing him a cloth.
From that moment on, the two began to form a bond. Seeing his condition, Lumina decided to bring him to a childless couple she knew—Morro and his wife.
As they reached the small house, Lumina knocked on the door.
"Uncle Morro, I brought someone for you."
The door creaked open, and a middle-aged man peeked out.
"Princess? You usually come alone and in secret. Who have you brought this time?"
Lumina smiled playfully. "His name is Zen Felix. For now, he'll be your responsibility."
Morro looked at the young man before him, momentarily stunned by his striking features, unaware of what lay beneath the long robes.
"Wife! Come see who's here!" he called.
A woman rushed out from the kitchen. Upon seeing Zen, she paused, then her face lit up.
"Oh, my! This handsome young man will be staying with us?"
Without waiting for a reply, she pulled Zen inside, offering food and drink with delight.
Lumina rolled her eyes. "Hmph, old lady's still got a thing for pretty boys."
Morro laughed heartily, pleased to see his wife in such high spirits. And for the first time in a long while, Zen Felix—despite his dark secret—felt a flicker of something warm: acceptance.
Lumina returned to her homeland as the daughter of the angel Soneta da Lucia, the leader of Torsgad. She entrusted Felix to a kind-hearted couple, Morro and his wife. The two welcomed the boy warmly, and Felix quickly became part of their family. Although they noticed the boy's jet-black skin—something unlike anything they had ever seen—not one of them knew where he had come from.
A week passed in Torsgad, and Felix grew closer to Lumina. The two would often play on the beautiful beaches surrounding the city. Felix also began to feel at home with Morro and his wife, gradually seeing them as his own parents.
But peace never lasts long.
One of Astranova Empire's most powerful sorcerers, Mirelda Bloodrune, had begun to hunt them. Ranked third in the High Circle of Mages, Mirelda was a ritualist known for abducting children with sacred bloodlines to awaken forbidden powers.
At first, she intended to capture Lumina—her angelic blood alone held immense power. But when her eyes fell upon the black-skinned child, Zen Felix, she sensed something even greater. Within that boy lay a silent, immeasurable force, veiled in darkness yet bursting with potential.
One evening, Mirelda slipped into Morro's home, hoping to take Felix. But the child wasn't there. Enraged, she tore Morro and his wife to pieces in a brutal frenzy.
Meanwhile, Vaedric Stormbane and his soldiers had arrived in Torsgad. They had tracked Felix's escape from Paphilia using trained falcons deployed to search the nearby coastal cities. Survivors from the Paphilia massacre confirmed that the boy had escaped by boat, and Torsgad was one of the most likely destinations.
Through the eyes of his falcons, Vaedric located Lumina and Felix playing by the sea. The hunt began.
After a tense and exhausting chase, Felix and Lumina managed to make it back to Morro's house—only to be met with a horrifying sight. Morro and his wife lay savagely mutilated, and waiting among the ruins was Mirelda Bloodrune, her gaze triumphant.
Without warning, she unleashed a surge of magic. But before the spell could strike, a violent black fire erupted from Felix, nearly killing Mirelda on the spot.
Felix had lost control.
His true power surged to the surface. His body began to shift—into the form of the Oragon Dragon. The darkness he emitted engulfed all of Torsgad.
Panic spread like wildfire. The entire city plunged into chaos.
From Celestian, Soneta da Lucia—the angelic commander and Lumina's mother—descended with her army, racing toward the source of the disturbance. At the same time, Vaedric and his men rushed toward the heart of the darkness.
"Felix! Wake up! You have to control it!" Lumina cried out, her body thrown back by the raging storm of power.
Felix struggled to suppress it, but the harder he fought, the more pain he felt. Agony rippled through his trembling body, and he screamed.
Lumina couldn't bear to watch him suffer. She refused to let him fall into darkness—to become the Prince of Shadows foretold in ancient lore.
"Felix! Take this!" she shouted, throwing her ring toward him. "It will seal your power!"
Felix, still clinging to a shred of consciousness, heard her voice in his mind. With his last strength, he slipped the ring onto his finger. Instantly, the dark power vanished, and he collapsed.
The black clouds that blanketed Torsgad slowly began to clear.
Mirelda, bloodied and burnt by Felix's eruption of energy, saw an opportunity. She rushed toward the unconscious boy. But before she could reach him, Vaedric and his soldiers blocked her path.
"Take the boy! Don't let the witch have him!" Vaedric shouted.
The Dominion troops tried to wrest Felix from Lumina's arms, unaware that she was no ordinary girl. With astounding combat skill, she fought back, defeating several elite soldiers with her bare hands.
Elsewhere, a fierce duel erupted between Vaedric and Mirelda. But the difference in power was overwhelming. Mirelda's magic pummeled Vaedric mercilessly, leaving his body broken and bloodied.
After all, Mirelda was the third-ranked mage in Astranova—far beyond Vaedric, who sat at ninth in the Dominion hierarchy.
As Lumina tried to flee with Felix in her arms, she was intercepted by Ravena Lenoris, a young but formidable leader of Dominion forces.
"Hand over the boy!" Ravena commanded.
But before her troops could touch them, the skies parted as Soneta da Lucia's forces descended, cutting between the two groups. A battle broke out.
Soneta's piercing gaze fell on her daughter. "Lumina, what is going on? Why are you protecting that boy?"
Lumina knew the truth about Felix would mean certain death. Her mother wouldn't hesitate to eliminate any threat to Celestian. So, she lied.
"That dark sorceress wanted to use him as a sacrifice! Look at him—he's already starting to transform! That darkness—it was his power!"
Soneta stared at her daughter for a long moment, then gave a sharp nod. "Take him. Get as far away from here as you can. I'll hold them off."
"Yes, Mother!" Lumina ran, carrying Felix away from the chaos.
Meanwhile, Vaedric and his remaining soldiers were being slaughtered. Though injured, Mirelda was still strong enough to wipe them out one by one.
The clash between Soneta and Ravena intensified.
Though their duel seemed evenly matched, it was clear Ravena was losing ground. Despite being ranked twelfth among Dominion's finest warriors, she struggled to keep up with Soneta, who held the eighth rank in Celestian's knight order.
As the two fought, Mirelda stormed past them, chasing after Lumina and Felix.
Soneta and Ravena both realized the greater threat.
"I don't want to fight you," Soneta said. "That witch is the real danger."
Ravena understood. Alone, she couldn't defeat Soneta. And Mirelda—she was far worse.
"Then for the sake of balance," Ravena agreed.
Together with Vaedric, the three formed an uneasy alliance—Celestian, Dominion, and the remnants of Stormbane—against Mirelda Bloodrune.
The battle was brutal. Even with their combined strength, Mirelda was a force of nature. But the injuries she'd suffered from Felix's explosion had begun to take their toll.
Weakened and no longer able to sense Felix's presence, Mirelda retreated into the shadows.
"Our mission has failed…" Vaedric murmured, collapsing to the ground, bleeding and barely conscious.
The three stood together, bruised and breathless, painfully aware that they had only survived by a thread—and that the enemy they had faced was far beyond anything they had imagined.