Ch.1 Despair and Hope

Eyes with their emerald irises stared in disbelief at the scene in front of her. The crowd of people gathered around the stage, where he was.

Both his hands and feet were attached to iron chains, whose every movement would make a jingling sound. With unsteady steps, he was forced to walk.

"Hurry up. We don't want to waste any more time with you," the man in the armored outfit walked behind her. He would occasionally push the frail body in front of him.

Seraiah, a nineteen-year-old boy, walked and stopped at the center of the stage. There were tables and chairs and a bowl of dark, steaming liquid. He doesn't know what it is. One thing for sure, with that liquid, many people had died drinking it and he would be one of them.

"I will read the sentence against the offender, Seraiah Achlys," one of the soldiers in armored clothing, came forward and unrolled the scroll with the royal symbol of the Endora kingdom.

"Seraiah Achlys is convicted of the crimes of attempted murder, physical and mental torture, and rape of the future High Priestess of the Kingdom and her sister, Calia Achlys. With that, the offender will be sentenced to death in front of the people of the capital."

After he finished his speech, many objects were thrown at the young man. He certainly could not dodge, especially since the chains on his hands and feet were held by the soldiers behind him. Even if he avoided, he would not be able to avoid forever.

Duk

Duk

Stones and rotten fruit and eggs hit his thin body. Trembling, he could only hold back his tears and raise his hands to protect his head.

"Kill that vile bastard."

"Shameless. There really is a demon in the form of an angel."

"Quickly cut off his head, don't waste time."

"Son, you must see this. This is the punishment for the bad people."

He heard a lot of cursing from the stage. Unconsciously, a drop of tear fell and streamed down his cheek. And the next drop followed. His lips were already torn and bleeding, trying to hold back the sobs.

He glanced behind his arm that was still trying to protect his head. Up there, in one of the windows of the restaurant near the stage, he saw many people staring at the stage. And there, too, was the girl who had caused him all his misfortune. Sitting next to his ex-fiancée and two princes of the Endora kingdom.

In fact, facing her, were his biological father and stepmother. The six people spread wide smiles and toasted, drinking the hundred-year-old red wine.

'How cruel they are,' he wanted to shout and say that all the accusations were false. It was not what the armored soldier said. He was being framed and the one who was framing him was the one who was considered the victim, Calia. The girl acted like she was the victim and blamed everything on him.

To make it even crueler, his only family member, his father, believed in that girl more than he believed in him. He explained everything to his father with tears and clear evidence, but his father just looked away and left.

Even when the royal soldiers came and arrested him, everyone stood up to see him off and wished him the harshest punishment. And as expected, he was sentenced to a public death by drinking a poisonous liquid in a bowl.

"Seraiah Achlys will be sentenced to drink the demon blood potion," the soldier continued his explanation. " This is the punishment the Kingdom has given to the defendant."

Seraiah, who was still standing with his head covering his thin arms, was forced to sit on the chair. The soldier holding his chains released his grip and stepped back. So did the one who read out the sentence.

"Now, we will begin the punishment process."

A priest wearing a white and gold outfit walk into the stage and hold up the bowl. He cast a spell and immediately, the young man's two arms picked up the bowl and brought it close to his lips.

Even when his hands moved to bring the bowl closer, his face moved away. He could not move his head left or right. It was as if his body was controlled and no longer belonged to him.

Glup

The liquid slowly entered his mouth and flowed down his throat. Like a thirsty person, he gulped down the demon blood potion in the bowl and finished it in one go.

The priest walked down from the stage after making sure the liquid in the bowl was consumed. As he stepped down, he cast a spell with both hands pointed at Seraiah.

"Amen," he whispers before completely walking off the stage.

The loud whispers became quieter and quieter. The young man's view became blurry, even though he was not crying. The remaining tears were already drying up.

"It's hot," he whispered. Unconsciously, he pulled up his clothes. The dull white fabric with a few stains was so thin, but he felt hot.

Just as the church bell rang to indicate noon, the thick cloth stage cover was torn down and a ray of sunlight shone on the spot where the young man was. At first there was no problem. But a moment later, an intense heat that seemed to burn his body, was felt.

"Akh!"

A small amount of smoke began to rise from his body. First from the back, it spread almost all over the body. The puffs of smoke blocked the young man's appearance from the view of the crowd.

"Hot!"

Zrash

Suddenly, the thin body was burned by red flames. A very unnatural color for fire, like the color of blood. The flames quickly covered the young man's body and burned him slowly.

"Help! Anyone! Help me! Help me! Please!"

The young man's cries were not answered. The people watching the terrifying scene were not afraid. They folded their hands as if praying and turned a deaf ear to the screams of the young man on stage, whose body was slowly burning.

He who was originally sitting on a chair, fell on the floor with his body on fire. Surprisingly, the chair and table where he was sitting were not burnt by the fire at all, still in their original state. Only his body was burnt.

Unintentionally, he wandered his gaze towards where the girl who brought misfortune to him. There the girl was happily smiling with a cheerful face. Not forgetting the face of his ex-fiancée who was silent without expression. Then his father who was staring as if he had no father-son relationship with him, only knowing.

Nyut

His body was in a lot of pain. It hurt so much that he did not know which part hurt. But of all, he felt the most pain in his heart. As if his heart was more burnt and scorched, it was blackened. The hatred for those people had blackened his feelings and numbed his heart.

Not long after, a heartbreaking cry escaped from his mouth. Everyone who had been praying, hoping for God's protection from the demon in front of them, finally opened their eyes. The terrifying sight terrified everyone.

The skinny body had stopped, no longer struggling like before. It was too painful and tired to move its body. Seraiah could only remain silent and accept the end of his destiny.

In his last breath, the image of the woman who gave birth to him came to mind. A sincere smile and a gentle embrace, which he hadn't felt in years. He really missed the woman he called mother.

"Seraaaa!"

The sound of horse hooves hitting the road was heard roaring. The crowd that watched silently as the young man's body slowly burned, bustled as a group of men on large black horses broke through.

"Seraa!"

At the edge of his consciousness, he heard a male voice calling his name. He could not remember who the voice belonged to. But he was familiar with it. As if they already knew each other.

"Move aside! Seraa! Hang on!"

The man made it to the front of the stage and jumped up in one leap. His pair of feet stepped quickly towards the burnt body, scorched by the flames of blood.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm so useless!"

The man fell to his knees and picked up the burnt black body that had been burnt out. He embraced the body and even boldly kissed its forehead. He did not feel discomfort with Seraiah's burnt and smelly skin.

"I wish I had arrived earlier. I'm sorry," the man's voice trembled. One hand gently stroked the face of the young man in front of him.

Ah, it turned out that someone still cared about him. Even if he could not recognize this man, he was grateful for his existence. At least, his heart was not completely blackened. There was still a ray of light in there.

"Tha..nk..yo..u," was the last word he said before his last breath left his body.

He did not know what happened at that time. He just wanted to see his mother and tell her a lot of things.

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If God does exist, there is only one thing he wishes for.

'I hope that if I get a second chance, I can live a better and happier life. If I can, I want to take revenge on all of them. And I hope, in the next life, I can find that man'.