I Know You'll Understand

In the middle of the woods under a clear night sky, the pale MoonLight cast a silhouette of two approaching a house plagued with roars and shrieks.

The voices inside belonged to a man and a woman arguing. The wolves' howls were silenced, and the crows' attention was drawn to them.

"Nooo! Are you Mad?!"

Yelled the woman as she dashed to the door.

"They're my children! Mine! So don't even think of laying a hand on them!"

She yanked on the doorknob to unlock it. However, before she could, a man grabbed her neck and smacked her across the face, forcing her to drop to the floor and kiss the floorboard.

The man hoisted her back and squeezed her shoulders.

"Hey, hey, listen to me!"

The man exclaimed, his gaze fixed on the woman. However, she shook her head vigorously and avoided his eyes.

"Do you not see that I'm doing this for both of us?"

She pointed her chin toward the room next to them and said,

"But.. what about my kids? My twins?"

The man snarled at her response.

"What about them?!? Why are you so adamant about it?"

He came to a halt, turned his gaze to the door, and then pointed his finger at it before continuing,

"If we trade their souls, as Lord Charon suggested, we may start over and live like monarchs!"

The man pulled her closer to him and added,

"Don't you want us to live like royalty, respected by the other races and renowned throughout this realm?"

"I'd trade the world for them; they're my greatest gift, so how can..." the woman mumbled as her eyes welled up.

But in response to her pleas, the man's face reddened as he clenched his fist and smacked her in the face once more.

The woman fell to the floor, and the impact shattered the floorboard, causing blood to drip from her forehead as she lay motionless on the floor.

Despite her inability to move, she clenched her jaw, raised her head, and clutched his ankle.

"Please, not them… Not my babies… I'll do anything you wish, just please…"

The man scuffed at her cries, but his face remained unmoved. He then yanked her hair and lifted her off the ground.

"Ahh!"

The woman screamed in agony while she attempted to shove his hands away from her, but the man did not move an inch. Afterward, he stated,

"This is an opportunity that only happens once in a lifetime, and sometimes, if you don't sacrifice what you love, what you want becomes the sacrifice, and I won't let this opportunity slip away."

The man turned his attention to the door beside him and said,

"And they're the only ones that helped us achieve that."

The man banged her against the door before he walked into the room.

Following this, the woman rubbed her forehead and ignored the pain, while she stretched her hands towards the door and started screaming,

"Runaway from here! Aidan! Nadia!"

The woman attempted to stand, but her hands wiggled, and she fell face-first to the floor. Her blood splattered on the floorboard, and the blood gushing from her forehead turned her vision red.

With no more choice left, she clenched her teeth and attempted to raise her head once more. However, when she stared at him, he had already grasped the doorknob.

"I need to hurry!"

She wiped the blood from her left hand's forehead once more, bit her thumb on her right hand, and twisted her jaw to make it bleed.

"Blood Essence, Crimson Blade!"

The blood from her left hand transformed into a dagger. Afterward, she turned her right hand and gazed at her wrist.

"For my twins," she mumbled.

She clenched her teeth to prepare for the upcoming pain, reversed her grip, and held on to the blade while she raised it and punctured the pulse in her right wrist.

"Ahh!"

When the blade punctured her pulse, blood streamed out of her wrist like flowing water, and she murmured once more...

"Blood Essence, Crimson Arrows!"

The gushing blood from the woman's hand rose and hovered in mid-air, and the entire room had become crimson while the blood had shifted its form and turned into hundreds of crimson arrows.

The man had already grasped the door and was ready to twist it. However, he hesitated and observed a crimson mist around his vision. He took a deep breath and mumbled,

"Blood?"

The man released his grip on the doorknob and turned around to find hundreds of crimson arrows floating in mid-air, pointed in his direction.

He then shifted his attention to the woman, panting and stretching her hand in his direction while crawling on the floor like a bloody Mary.

"Do you think this is enough to stop me?" he growled.

Without responding to his query, the woman lifted her left hand and swung it toward him, and the hundreds of arrows moved while piercing the wind in their wake. When he saw this, he elevated his right leg and yelled,

"Earth Essence, Shield Wall!"

He stomped his foot on the ground, triggering a tremor, and a rock wall sprung out of the floor, shielding him from the arrows.

*Boom!-Boom!-Boom!*

When the crimson arrows contacted the rock wall, they detonated. However, although the floor vibrated because of the collision, the wall was unharmed. Afterward, the man clenched his fist and followed up on his attack with,

"Earth Essence, Earth Imprisonment!"

He hammered the rock wall, shattering it and hurling rubble in the woman's direction. When she sees this, the woman's eyes widen.

She understood she couldn't stop it, so she firmed her hold on the floor and closed her eyes to await her fate.

However, when the rubble was about to contact her skin, black chains emerged from the floor and shielded her from the impact.

"Black Chains?" the man said while he tilted his head, confused.

When the rubbles came into contact with the chains, they clung to them and attempted to bind them, stopping them from moving. However, just as the rubble was about to cover the entire chain, it hardened and turned into dust, which was then sprinkled on the floor.

"Impossible!" the man exclaimed, wide-eyed in disbelief.

Afterward, the man heard a snap of fingers, and the black chains shattered and revealed the woman, accompanied by two figures on her back. On her left, he wore a European-style tuxedo, with a red bow tie around his neck and a top hat on his head, making him appear to be a gentleman.

And on her right, a man wearing a robe and a cowl that was ruffled by the wind stood.

He wore a mask that had a calm expression with two horns on it, one black and one white, concealing his face and a key dangling around his neck. And on his back, a scythe could be seen reflecting the moonlight on its edge, making him appear like the God of Death himself.

When the man saw the two figures, his eyes went wide and sweat dripped around his forehead. He then slammed his head against the floor and shouted,

"Please forgive me, Lords! That attack was not intended for you both; I was only..."

However, before he could begin his lengthy discussion, the figure with the top hat lifted his hand, and the man's pleading came to a halt.

"Based on my observation, both of you seem to have a lovers' quarrel about the offer that I suggested, correct?" he said, while his gaze wandered the room.

The woman turned her gaze to the man with the top hat and crawled up to his leg, pleading.

"Lord Charon, his blood does not flow in their veins, so please, whatever you discuss with that man, keep my children out of this..."

The woman sobbed and used her tears like water to clean his boots with her hair. Charon shifted his gaze to her, curled his lips, and exclaimed,

"Insolent filth!"

Charon curled his lips in disgust while he lifted his other leg and attempted to kick her. However, when he was about to hit her, the other figure grabbed his shoulder, and Charon came to a halt.

Afterward, Azael approached her, knelt, reached for the hair that was covering her ear, and said...

"Tell me, what are you doing in these lands, elf?"

Her eyes widened when she heard his words, but before she could respond, Azael lifted her hair and noticed that her ear had been severed and burned. The woman smacked his hand away, crawled back, and covered her ears while shivering.

"You'll pay with your pitiful life!"

Charon became enraged when he saw Azael being disrespected and marched up to the woman, but he lifted his hand, prompting him to halt.

Afterward, Azael rose, grabbed a vial inside his robe, and tossed at her a vial with a golden lid, which hopped and danced on her hands before she caught it.

"Drink it," he ordered.

The woman narrowed her eyes and stared at the vial before shifting her gaze to him. When he saw her suspicious gaze, he knelt and took up the crimson dagger from her left hand, raised it, and plunged it into his hand, impaling it.

"Sir!!!"

Azael's blood splattered on the floor, and Charon came charging at him, wide-eyed. Charon ripped the cloth from his tuxedo, but he lifted his hand once more, bringing him to a halt.

Azael pulled out the dagger from his hand, snatched the vial from her hand, opened it, and poured it into his wounded hand.

*Ting?*

His hand glowed for a moment, and the wound on his hand healed in the blink of an eye. His hand was as good as new. Following this, Azael stood up and handed her the vial.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Drink it." His tone was deep as the ocean.

The woman gazed at him with a flabbergasted expression, but she nodded, clasped her hands around the vial, and gulped it down in one fell swoop, wasting nothing.

Meanwhile, while she drank the vial, the man glared at her, gulping his saliva, almost as if he, too, was swallowing the contents of the vial.

However, when the woman slammed the empty vial on the floor, it brought him back to reality, and he turned to Azael, who had given her the potion, and inquired,

"My Lord, may I, this humble servant of yours, ask a simple question?" he said.

Azael nodded at him, permitting him.

"Is it not a waste for your lordship to give my lovely wife a high-class Elixer?"

Azael shifted his gaze to the man and replied, while he took a step forward towards the man.

"Let me ask you something. If you saw a fountain overflowing with Ru, gemstones, artifacts, world crystals, and any godly relics, what would you do?"

(Author's note: Ru is their currency.)

Azael grabbed the scythe from behind his back before adding,

"And I advise you to be careful with your words if you don't want to be on the receiving end of this."

The man trembled when he noticed the gleam of moonlight shining off on

Afterward, Azael approached him while dragging the scythe over the floor, slicing the wooden floorboards as he walked.

"I... I would protect that fountain with my life, my lord. Treat it as part of myself and..." the man answered, his voice shaking.

However, when he was about to continue speaking, Azael's boots appeared in front of the man, and he halted his words.

"Now then, back to your question. How come you don't want the same treatment for her?"

The man's brow was dripping with sweat as Azael bent down to reach his ear. The man could feel his chilly breath flowing out of his mask, and his entire body went numb.

"Don't pretend to be polite to me if you aren't one, so just shut up and behave," Azael growled.

A blinding light engulfed the entire room after this. Azael turned around, and the man raised his head to see the woman glowing. Her wrist, forehead, and back of her skull wounds healed, leaving no scars.

Her blood-soaked garments were also spotless and looked like they had just been washed. After checking her wounds that had been healed, she dashed towards Azael, knelt, and lowered her head.

"I thank you so much for healing my wounds, but please, Lord, do not take away my children. My Elven race should be enough for the bargain, correct? Just please, Lord, not them…"

She said while tears streamed down her cheeks, pleading with Azael while lowering her head even farther as she uttered another word.

He glanced at her as he clenched his hand and bent down while he stared at her. "Pleading," he replied,

"I may not understand how a mother feels about losing their child," Azael paused and grabbed the dangling key around his neck before continuing,

"However, I understand what it's like to lose people you care about."

The woman raised her head with her teary eyes while she stared at his mask, and Azael continued.

"But sometimes, you need to step into the darkness in order to save the light."

Azael snapped his fingers, and black chains emerged in front of them and dragged both of them outside their house.

Following this, he walked into the house entrance, plunged his scythe in front of him, and clapped his hand while he chanted.

"Chain Prison!"

Hundreds of black chains sprung from the couple's lawn and were raised into the roof of the house, forming a sphere and barring anyone from entering.

"No, no, no, no, no, please,"

When she landed on the grassy ground, the woman sprang up and hurried towards the chains that had been wrapped around the house.

However, when she was about to reach the chains, the man grabbed her shoulder, prompting her to stop, but she shoved his hand away and continued to go into the chains.

She slammed her fist and her head on it, but the chain would not budge. Afterward, she once again bit her thumb, knelt, and drew a circle. But just as she was ready to chant, she heard a voice coming from the small gaps of the chains.

"I too have a family to save. I know you'll understand."

"Do you think that they'll approve that you save them by shedding the blood of innocents?"

"That's the point."

Azael raised his hand and stared at it before adding,

"My hands get dirty, while theirs stay clean."

Her expression darkened after hearing this. She screamed as tears streamed down her face once again, begging him to spare her kids.

However, Azael no longer replied to her. As Azael closed his hand, every brief gap in the chain sphere closed and they succumbed to the darkness.