A Few Seconds Later

  Still Inside That Room

  The perspective now shifted to a high angle near the ceiling of the room, offering a wide panoramic view of the entire space.

  There, Hark was still lying on the floor with his back supported against the wall behind him, which was slightly cracked and broken.

  Hark's lightly open wounds were still bleeding a little, but he was, in a way, calm regarding the pain at that moment.

  A few meters in front of him sat Salin on the bed, staring at him with a serious gaze, radiating a surreal presence that made Hark feel fear and, at the same time, respect.

  Behind Salin at that moment, forced into sleep for her own good, was none other than his own wife, Mia.

  Earlier, she had been talking with Hark about certain matters, but ended up losing control of her abilities.

  She nearly triggered a fatal mental resonance within a radius of several kilometers across the entire city surrounding the place where they were — in the present moment, inside Hark's room beneath the famous nightclub among the Oculi of the underworld.

  All of this was caused by Hark's audacity in using his manipulator abilities against Mia, after successfully touching upon the one subject that would shatter her mind from within.

  Hark spoke of nothing less than the current location of Mia and Salin's daughter, Emi — who, in the present, was being cared for by Salin's younger sister, Sasha, in her home, far from the enemies' Oculi radar.

  Faced with all this, Salin, in the present moment after speaking with Hark for the past few minutes, looked at him with a single expression different from all the previous ones.

  In Salin's eyes, that manipulator Oculi who had nearly broken his wife Mia's mind still carried a real motive behind so many manipulations and latent, despicable traits.

  In response, Hark took a deep breath, using what little strength he had restored to at least stop the bleeding, knowing he was close to losing consciousness within the next few minutes.

  At the same time, Salin noticed Hark using his abilities for something — something he understood was not an attack or an attempt at anything hostile — which left him relatively calm and not alert to yet another pathetic assault.

  Then, after a few seconds of effort, Hark managed to succeed. He slightly bared his teeth in discomfort from the intense pain of stopping the bleeding internally, using abilities that still failed him many times. After completing the process in total silence, he finally decided to speak to Salin.

  [Hark — Sincere & Reflective Voice] ...Salin, you know that the moment you leave this event with your wife, Mia, the Begeneri twins will most likely find out what you did here. —

  [Hark — Sincere & Reflective Voice] Many of the guards you killed in the corridor were members of the Inanis faction, and even though most of them were utterly useless, they will still be missed among the Begeneri twins' forces. —

  Upon hearing those words, spoken in Hark's sincere tone, Salin genuinely smiled, conveying a confidence in his own capability that made Hark feel slightly impressed by that expression on Salin's face.

  It did not only convey confidence in his strength, but also something greater than the entire universe — something that made Salin unafraid of whatever might come after him and Mia from that day onward.

  Hark spontaneously let out a small laugh, losing his composure, which immediately made him lower his head, hiding his face from Salin, who managed to glance at him regardless.

  For a few moments, Salin noticed Hark smiling in a way that revealed envy — envy of something Salin possessed now and that Hark would most likely never have again in his life, either in the present or the future.

  That something was nothing less than a family still alive, one that gave Salin the motivation to never fear moving forward.

  [Hark — Sincere & Genuinely Cheerful Voice] If you love your wife, Mia, and your little daughter, Emi, and... —

  [Salin — Slightly Confused Voice] "And?" —

  [Hark — Sincere & Genuinely Cheerful Voice] And even so, in the face of everything, you show me that you are ready to face death head-on so that everyone you love may have a happy future... I... I ask you for just one thing... —

  The young Salin, upon hearing those words coming from Mr. Hark, saw him standing there with his head lowered, hiding his face, yet still conveying through the tone of his voice that Hark was genuinely crying in complete silence.

  He did not show his face to Salin out of pure personal pride, in the face of the strength that Salin displayed in his gaze and presence — something far superior when compared to Hark's own, both in the present moment and throughout his entire life up until then.

  Hark then, with some difficulty, used one of his hands to reach into the pocket of his pants and retrieve something. It turned out to be a small pen drive, which at first left Salin confused, his mind racing with countless thoughts.

  None of the things Salin imagined in that moment — nor anything he could have ever imagined throughout his life — would have come close to what Mr. Hark was about to do, which was nothing less than tossing that pen drive near Salin's feet.

  This left Salin staring at the pen drive by his feet in confusion, and in the next moment he spoke to Hark, utterly perplexed by such an unexpected action.

  [Salin — confused & curious voice] Why are you giving me this, Hark? —

  At the same time, Mia — who had previously been sleeping deeply — was seen gradually beginning to awaken.

  She managed to regain her sanity to a stable level and, consequently, recover control over her abilities, which would no longer harm the people around her as they had before whenever she lost the ability to control them.

  After throwing the pen drive to Salin and hearing his question about why he had done so, Hark felt his body grow heavier and heavier, as if an immense weight were crushing him from within.

  Meanwhile, his mind seemed to be steadily approaching its breaking point after everything that had happened in those last few minutes inside that room.

  [Hark — voice gradually heavier & weary] I waited and waited for someone like you, Salin. [Slightly trembling breath] —

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  [Hark — voice gradually heavier & weary] I don't have the strength that you have, and it seems I never will, but... [Slightly deeper breath] —

  It was clear that Hark had never been an Oculi predisposed to physical combat or to pushing his abilities to their limits in battle.

  Even in his current debilitated state, it was evident that Hark was an Oculi whose mental intellect surpassed the physical strength of many other Oculi of the present era.

  [Hark — voice gradually heavier & weary] With my pride cast aside in this moment, I... [Slightly trembling breath] —

  [Hark — voice gradually heavier & weary] ...I beg you — not as an Oculi, but as a person who sought justice. Please... —

  After those words echoed through the room — which now felt like a completely silent coliseum — the heavy breathing of Hark and the stunned, breathless silence of Salin echoed in an almost unbelievable way.

  At the same time, before Salin's incredulous eyes, the reflection in his gaze revealed a scene that felt impossible given what little he believed he knew about Hark.

  Salin watched as Hark no longer kept his head lowered, but instead lifted his gaze toward Salin's face, fixing his eyes deep into Salin's own.

  Hark was crying subtle black tears down his face, and he was smiling in a way that made Salin feel that this simple smile was more painful than anything he had ever experienced in his entire life up to that moment.

  Because that look from Hark — combined with the tears falling to the ground — conveyed the deepest and most sincere plea for justice, one that only Salin could fulfill in Hark's place.

  Even though Hark was currently one of the most influential figures among the Oculi in the underworld — known as the greatest manipulator and informant — he still lacked the necessary leverage to bring peace to those who, many years ago, had been forced to burn alive under the command of the Begeneri twins, leaders of the Oculi faction known as Inanis.

  [Hark — very heavy & utterly exhausted voice] Everything you need to find your friend Emily is inside that pen drive. It contains everything I know so far, and at the same time... [Deep, sincere breath] —

  [Hark — very heavy & utterly exhausted voice] That same pen drive I'm giving you also contains everything necessary for you and your wife, Mia, to keep your family — and everyone you love — safe from now on, protected against the Oculi who follow the ideals of the Inanis faction. [Deep & slow breath] —

  The young Salin, upon hearing that, felt his heart tighten in a way he could not comprehend the reason for. Yet, instinctively, he could sense that Hark was finally being himself, with all the defenses that had made him seem indestructible now lowered for the last time.

  [Hark — very heavy & deeply exhausted voice] I will not ask forgiveness for everything I have done to so many humans, driven by my thirst for revenge against those wretched twins who made me lose everything... [Deep & slow breath] —

  Simultaneously with those words, Salin saw Hark still shedding black tears, while wearing a smile that made the once-heavy atmosphere become unbearable, due to the pain Hark conveyed behind that simple yet truthful gaze and smile.

  [Hark — very heavy & deeply exhausted voice] But, as you humans say to your own kind when facing the end... "There is not only light and darkness; there are many shades of gray in everything around us." [Deep & very slow breath] —

  After saying that, Salin saw before his eyes what appeared to be flashes of memories from his own past. He could clearly see himself smiling and playing with his daughter, Emi, alongside his wife Mia at a playground—moments so trivial and ordinary to Salin himself.

  [Echoing laughter of Emi, happy beside Mia, who was also happy]

  Yet he felt that this moment, even though repeated many times throughout the month, was always the most important one to experience, regardless of how often it happened—because it was always better than the previous one, even when it was almost entirely similar to the last.

  [Mia from the past — caring & happy voice] ...Our daughter is what motivates us to stand up after a difficult battle, and her happy future is what makes us never give up on fighting with everything we have, my love. —

  {Voice from the recent past, still trying to say "I love you, daddy," coming from little Emi, happy}

  As Salin lowered his head after understanding something, Hark did the same at the same time, initially seeming to faint after reaching his limit. However, it soon revealed itself to be something different, since he was an Oculi and not a human.

  Thus, it became possible to see Hark going through the process known as "the fall into the void." This process was something extremely strange for humans to try to understand in its entirety.

  But, in a summarized sense, it was as if the essence behind that Oculi's existence was completely consumed by the void upon his death.

  After this process, only his physical and organic existence remained, left there breathing perpetually until his body would naturally die after a few hours. Once his essence drained into the void, his body became nothing more than an "empty shell," without an essence to command its existence.

  Salin, upon realizing that Hark was going through this process not because of his wounds, but because he no longer wished to remain in that place—after finally finding someone who could do what he himself would never have been able to do throughout the rest of his life there.

  Thus, it was possible to see the young Salin still with his head lowered, showing no forgiveness for everything Mr. Hark had done from the past to the present against many humans and also several Oculi, driven by his thirst for vengeance as he sought a way to put an end to his only enemies.

  And yet, at the same time, there was a complete empathy for the struggle he had carried out hidden from the entire world — a world that believed he was nothing more than someone like everyone else, chasing something pathetic such as power or superiority over his own kind and over humans themselves.

  [Salin — whispering, respectful & confident] I promise you that, if they ever intervene in my affairs, I will destroy once and for all those Begeneri twins who took everything that made you someone good in the eyes of everyone. [An awkward, restrained laugh] —

  At the same time, as Salin's whisper seemed to echo within the painful silence of that room, Hark's body — which had previously been bleeding — could be seen gradually losing its color and human appearance.

  It thus began to change its organic form into something like a physical humanoid specter, no longer possessing a specific sex, should anyone observe that form.

  Simultaneously, the entire surface of that physical spectral body of Hark began to petrify, while also cracking apart, as if collapsing in a strange and unnatural manner.

  This bizarre transformation of his physical body was caused by the dissipation of his essence, brought about by nothing less than the wounds Hark had previously suffered in that room when he was facing Mia and, subsequently, Salin.

  That was what resulted in this anomaly, which caused his physical existence in this world to undergo a different process of self-destruction. For it had been Hark's essence — previously underlying his existence — that kept his physical body, even though severely damaged internally, stable enough to avoid completely collapsing.

  At the same time, within the silence of that moment, Mia — who was now fully awake after recalling her feelings — remained on Hark's bed.

  Mia stood in absolute silence before that scene, having managed to hear part of the conversation between her husband, Salin, and Mr. Hark, who only a few hours earlier had been one of the most despicable figures in the underworld of the Oculi.

  [(Mia — thought, confused & worried) All of this was very strange, but... (a fearful deep breath)]

  Yet, in that very moment, before departing of his own free will with his essence toward the void — choosing to be true to himself after so many years hiding his real, "broken" persona after losing everything that still made him "human".

  [(Mia — thought, confused & worried) The worst part of all this is that I can feel Salin's essence has changed, after that strange conversation between him and that idiot, Hark. (a fearful deep breath)]

  At the same time, Salin could be seen holding the flash drive in his hand after picking it up from the floor, staring forward with a confident and even more motivated gaze. He watched as Hark's entire body had become petrified and gradually collapsed onto the ground, turning into dust once its coloration reached structural collapse.

  Meanwhile, Salin felt — in a way he could not explain within his own heart — the weight of an entire lifetime of pain and torment contained within the data of that flash drive, after everything Hark had said and the single request he had made of Salin.

  For even though Hark was an Oculi and not a human, and possessed a highly questionable persona considering everything Salin and Mia had learned about his history throughout the underworld of the Oculi,

  Hark was still the reflection of a "different reality" — one that Salin himself might have become, had he successfully lost, a year earlier, his most precious treasure: his one and only young daughter, Emi, and at the same time his greatest safe harbor, his wife, Mia.

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  — (Act 11) — Break & Shatter —