I look up.
A surreal sight. Mystical.
I'm seated.
Front-row VIP.
Wait. No.
I'm on the throne itself.
Wrapped in shifting shadows.
Like a king… by default.
In front of me, the void stirs.
The darkness breathes.
Silhouettes emerge.
They flicker, unstable, on the edge of reality.
Neither solid nor ethereal. Unfathomable.
A chill crawls down my spine.
Then… a whisper.
A voice with no source.
No face.
Seeping into the air like a forbidden secret.
The atmosphere crushes.
Silence solidifies.
An invisible weight presses down.
A vision floods my mind.
Brother.
A sinking dread grips me.
All this… too real.
I open my mouth.
— Shit, Grandma! What the hell was in that cheap-ass rum?!
The shadows don't move.
But I feel them.
Encircling me.
Silent. Cold. Metallic.
Then… a sound.
A breath. Rasping.
Then… a vibration.
An ancient language.
Dead… but not forgotten.
Dozens of voices.
Then… hundreds.
IMPACT.
A jaw snaps shut.
A force slams onto my skull.
A crown.
No.
Not a crown.
A parasite.
It crawls.
It searches.
A shiver of horror.
I try to rip it off.
Impossible.
It fuses.
My skin is no longer mine.
My skull is no longer mine.
My name… dissolves.
Something watches me.
To my right… an iris opens.
No.
Not an eye.
A sentence.
Its light doesn't shine.
It dissects.
It judges.
My head tilts back.
BOOM.
A black flame explodes across my forehead.
Complete fusion.
The Eye of Ozen has spoken.
A brand.
Burning.
A perfect circle.
A zero.
Evaluation.
Suffocation.
BOOM.
The space bends.
I no longer see.
I feel.
A broken kingdom.
A bleeding sky.
Ruins.
Screams.
An empty throne.
Then…
A name.
OZEN.
VIOLENT RETURN.
I'm ejected.
My first gasp of air—
— Pwah!
A rumble.
The shadows kneel.
Silence.
Then…
A solemn voice.
A judgment.
— Priest 1: The Crown of Shadows has chosen its bearer.
— Priestess 2: The Eye of Ozen has chosen its king.
— In unison: The eighth cycle begins.
The shadows rise.
I stare at them.
One. Two. Three…
Eight.
And me?
A perfect circle burns on my forehead.
Empty.
A fucking zero.
— This has to be a dream…!!
A proclamation rises.
— Long live… our king?
A hesitation.
A doubt.
The tone isn't right.
— A half-human? What the hell is he doing here?
A growl.
The shadows quiver.
A whisper slithers through the void.
A figure detaches from the darkness.
It doesn't walk.
It glides.
Its eyes?
Slitted. Glowing.
Its fingers?
Too long. Too thin.
A black dagger dances between them.
Caressed by the tip of a nail.
— This king… is nothing like us.
Its voice snaps.
Like a whip.
Behind him, the shadows tremble.
The air shifts.
Heavy. Thick.
I'm not a king.
I'm… an anomaly.
Their eyes judge.
A doubt…
A shiver…
Then…
Hunger.
I shudder.
— They're gonna attack me?! I never asked for this!!!
My brain overheats.
My neck tingles.
The air freezes.
A digital voice.
— Alert! Hostilities detected.
Shit.
No time to think.
Instinct screams.
I clench my fists.
— This has to be a dream…
Otherwise…
Why the hell do they look like the kids from the third floor, huh?!