April was just a few meters away from the door leading intinald’s b, but still her fident strides did not slow. It was the way of children to believe that they were invincible, and April was no different—especially when anger stituted the heady cocktail that pulsed through her veins.

  The double doors were open to a slight ajar, casting a slender n of light upon the red carpet that lihe long corridor. Like a predator stalking prey, April got down on all fours, on in hand, and sneaked a peek at the bad man who had made both Sheba and her brother sad.

  Her heart pounded in her small chest, but it was a symphony of encement, not surrender. Before she could push to her feet with an energy fueled from a lifetime of indignation and poverty, salvation unfurled its giant wings.

  “Mmm—”

  April suddenly felt a pair of capable hands restraining her from behind, one securely c her mouth so she wouldn’t make a peep.

  “April,” Daisuke whispered in disbelief, turning her around slowly. “What’s gotten into you? It’s not like you to be so reckless!”

  Tears welled up in her eyes as she pouted. “But he… he made you cry. I ’t five him for hurting my friends.”

  Daisuke’s expression softened, and then he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry I made you see that moment of weakness, but I’m all better now. Y brother will definitely get us out of this mess.”

  “H-Hn!” she nodded with a sob.

  Her faow buried in his chest, Daisuke’s expression hardened as he looked to Sylvia who had just arrived on the se beside him. “How bad is it?” he asked.

  Sylvia hung her head, the details of her face shrouded in shadows. “…She’s all but ay shell now. She hasen or uttered a single word since, just vatly staring into the distance.”

  Daisuke gnashed his teeth, and as if his hatred suddenly became palpable—

  “Who’s there?” Reginald asked in a stern voice from ihe room. “Show yourself at once.”

  Almost simultaneously, Daisuke passed April to Sylvia with a telling gaze before pushing to his feet.

  “It’s just me,” he said upon pushing the doors open. “Sorry to intrude; I hesitated because I didn’t know if it was a good time.”

  “Nonsehe maured with warm hospitality and a sincere smile. “A matter of fact, your timing is perfect—oh, how was the afternoo I sent? Was it to your liking?”

  Daisuke preserved the iy of his expression. He wasn’t quite sure if the ma brunch or the sve, but just to err on the side of caution, he assumed it was the tter.

  “It was excellent! I truly appreciate you looking out for me in every regard,” he fessed with a bow. “It’s enough to wash away the hardships I endured during my time in captivity. I’m eternally grateful.”

  “Now, now,” the man fanned his hand dismissively. “Enough of that—I’m sure you would do the same for a fellow nobleman, if our roles were reversed.”

  He tinued when Daisuke raised his head.

  “My great-great-great grandfather, Cedric Osercival, brought the fme of alchemy into our family’s lineage. He achieved remarkable strides in his studies, though regrettably, much of his legacy remains fragmented.

  heless, despite the slehreads he left behind, his wisdom spurred my great grandfather onto the path of a chemist. From that point onward, the Percivals earned renown for their alchemical pursuits, and the torch assed through each successive geion.

  The kingdom’s s and our subsequent nation only stoked my resolve to thrive. With revenge as a driving force, I now stand at the precipice of a wondrous breakthrough, fueled by ambition and the thirst for retribution.”

  At the ter of his b, Reginald unveiled his current endeavor with an almost crazed grin. He invited Daisuke to approach. A long table was anized with a myriad of elements plucked from the periodic table—an array of powders and sands, rocks fragments and ores, and liquids of various colors. A colle of materials sourced from pnts and creatures also stituted the list.

  o the table, the stone floor showcased a wide transmutation circle drawn in chalk, stretg about te in diameter. And at its heart sat a regur object covered with a pin white sheet.

  As the maed his frustration about a minor yet elusive snag in the formu that thwarted his aspirations, Daisuke felt an inexplicable pull towards the scattered parts oable. Each sheet featured an intricate rendering of the inner circles: symmetrical lines, arches, symbols, aers that made up the rger model etched on the ground. Daisuke found himself skimming through them, entranced as if caught in the embrace of an otherworldly spell.

  In mathematics, a particur sequeed that had to be followed when solving aion. One added to one equal two; six divided by two results in three; and four multiplied by four yields sixteen. But what happens when you iwine all these expressions with diverse operations—for example: 3 x (4+2) – 8 ÷2?

  If calcutions are carried out from left tht without any specific sequehe answer bees ten, which is incorrect. The right answer is actually fourteen. To properly solve this expression, one must adhere to the order of operations, often remembered using the a PEMDAS (Parentheses, Expos, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtra).

  In the case of the alchemical formu, what was g were indicators—symbols that would signify the sequen which eaner circle resonated with one another withiransmutation circle.

  Whether propelled subsciously, by ego, or some other equally potent force, Daisuke instinctively began addressing the discrepancy, even before his sind could fully grasp the task.

  “Stop! What do you think you’re doing?” Reginald barked venomously, his gaze malicious.

  Infuriated by what he perceived as vandalism, the man’s rage maed in a violent kick that sent Daisuke hurtling to the ground with a pained grunt.

  “W-Wait! This is… I ’t believe it! You’ve actually rectified the problem that’s tormented me for years!”

  Rather than a formal apology for the unnecessary assault, Reginald’s emotions shot toward etion instead. His visage torted into a bizarre expression, a malevolent grin that stretched from ear to ear.

  With a tented huff, he removed the sheet c the objeestled within the circle’s ter, revealing a disheveled and distressed woman. She was gagged and bounded by s, her smudged etid tattered regal attire hinting at nobility.

  Daisuke’s eyes widened in arm, dartiween Reginald, who seemed utterly absorbed in his own realm, and the woman, who seemed on the brink of death.

  “This… Wait! Who is she?”

  “My mother,” came the response, delivered without an ounpathy. “Or, at least, that’s who she once was to me. Now, she’s nothing but a ptible woman who’s plummeted from grace.

  If she hadn’t left after the i, my father might still be alive. The ease with which she abandoned us is proof enough that she’s a harlot—a parasitic presence who cares about not a soul but herself. It’s only fitting that she pays for her transgressions with her wretched life.”

  Daisuke didn’t argue.

  Instead, Sylvia’s earlier ents abinald’s tendency to use sves as experimental subjects resurfaced in his mind. It was quite evident that, at this point in the man’s desensitized existence, human life held little significe for him, particurly those who had crossed him.

  While Daisuke cast a sympathetic gaze toward the woman, Reginald shot her one of disdain before p his energy into the transmutation circle. “Give the former king my regards… when you see him in hell.”

  The woman’s eyes widened with terror as the circle hummed to life and began emanating a blinding light. Despite her gagged cries and frantic thrashing, her desperate will to survive proved futile against the unyieldiraints. Meanwhile, her son’s cold heart remained unmoved, rejeg her very existence.

  Daisuke yelled at the unhinged manic, pleading for him to resider, to have mercy, but his menag guffaw pierced the air, overshadowing all but his own voice. When his mother was suddenly engulfed by an unholy fire that seared her flesh and twisted her humanity like metal within a fe, Reginald finally swallowed his ugh. Wide, beady eyes watched the maion of his life’s work with untrolbly excitement.

  “…I knew all along.”

  Daisuke rose to his feet as those words desded upon him like a dark curse. He slowly began stepping back toward the exit as a foul and sinister energy began rolling off the entity that was gradually taking shape in the circle.

  “I was fully aware of your deception from the very beginning.”

  Fear of monsters & the unknown: 24.4%