3 Chapter 3 - The 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 like water from a broken dam.

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

Meanwhile, the boy stood five feet away from Light. He appeared dishevelled and took wild breaths every second. The boy winced 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.'

The eyes of the boy landed on him. Light could feel an overflowing victorious intent from them. The boy thought it was all over. He probably thought he was a genius for surviving an impossible ordeal. He thought… he probably thought.

"You are mocking me with your eyes. Damn brat!"

Suddenly, a mysterious energy surged from within Light. His skin turned slightly gray 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 a lack of fear of death. 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 turned to surprise 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 dismantle.

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 and muttered while panting, "Freaking beast."

'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 head of the post-apocalypse government. To say the Order ruled the world was a great understatement.

'So it is true…' the boy whispered in his mind.

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

After the apocalypse, the human race had cleaved 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 human population belonged 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 force used to rule 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 academies. So imagine his surprise when he heard a local "lord" was in possession of the prized treasure.

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!

He couldn't believe it.

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.

It now made sense. Light must have drank the vial earlier on. That explains why he turned into a monster shortly before his death.

The boy quickly realized that he had done all this for naught. All his injuries and days of brainstorming didn't matter in the end.

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