Chapter 254: Numbness
Cold dread spread through Rafe's body the moment that sensation settled deep inside his chest. His eyes widened uncontrollably while the color drained from his face in a single instant, leaving him so pale without even realizing it himself.
This was not fear as he had ever known it before. It did not rise from instinct or from a threat he could measure and respond to. Instead, it felt greater like something far more absolute, as if an inevitable end had already reached out and brushed against him.
The coldness of it seeped into his body without resistance. It felt suffocating and final and made his entire body tense.
His breath stopped as he forced himself to turn his head, clinging to whatever control he still had left.
He felt relief when his body responded and when his limbs still moved under his will instead of locking completely. His fingers tightened around his daggers, the familiar weight grounding him and keeping his mind from spiraling further.
"I can still move… I'm not done yet…"
The thought came sharp and desperate as he clenched his jaw and pushed himself forward again, refusing to stop. He could not afford to stop right now when that presence lingered so close behind him. "I need to get out now!"
But only a few steps later, something felt wrong.
His gaze dropped instinctively and what he saw made his breath falter again. His shadow stretched along the broken ground beneath him but it no longer behaved like something natural. It looked darker and thicker, as if it carried something else instead of simply reflecting his form.
Confusion flickered across his face, interrupting the panic, but that moment shattered immediately when the shadow shifted.
It began to move.
The darkness peeled away from the ground and rose upward then wrapping around his legs before climbing higher toward his torso and arms.
It felt alive. It tightened as it moved, coiling around him. Panic surged violently through him as his breath broke into uneven gasps.
"What is this?! What is this?!"
He reacted without thinking, his daggers cutting through the air in sharp and desperate arcs as he tried to hack the shadow away. But there was nothing to hit. His blades passed through the darkness without resistance as if he had swung through empty space. No impact came back to him and no sign that his attacks had done anything at all.
The shadow continued to bind him, tightening further, ignoring everything he did.
His movements slowed as the pressure built.
His breathing turned shallow.
And then he heard it… footsteps.
They came from behind him, steady and unhurried, each one landing with a weight that seemed to press deeper into his chest.
Rafe's body stiffened as dread surged again with stronger power this time, leaving no room for doubt. Slowly, almost unwillingly, he turned his head.
He saw Myles walk toward him.
The black and faintly colorful Ether flowed around his body like a living mantle. It shifted in controlled currents that did not scatter or weaken. It did not erupt wildly like uncontrolled power. It moved with intent, with quiet dominance. That made it far more terrifying to witness.
Rafe felt his body tremble as that presence closed in on him.
"It's too late…" he realized.
The realization settled heavily before he could push it away.
Myles crossed the remaining distance in a single blink and stopped directly in front of him. His gaze locking onto Rafe with a coldness that felt completely inhuman, something that did not belong to any person Rafe had ever known.
"You killed my friend," Myles said. His voice came low and steady, but each word cut deep pressing into Rafe's nerves like shards of ice. The words left Myles' mouth, but Rafe barely processed them. His thoughts broke apart under the weight pressing down on him, scattered and crushed until nothing coherent remained.
Fear swallowed everything else and pressed into his chest, into his mind, and into his very sense of self until even his instinct to resist began to fade.
What stood in front of him no longer felt like someone he could fight or escape from. It felt absolute and overwhelming. Inevitable.
Despair crept in without resistance into his heart, cold and suffocating as it settled deep inside him.
There's no point in doing anything right now. The realization formed weakly, barely holding together as his will collapsed under that presence.
His grip on his daggers loosened, not by his own choice but because his body no longer responded with the will to survive. Fighting no longer felt like an option. It felt meaningless.
Myles stepped closer.
At the same time, the shadows coiling around Rafe's body tightened.
They constricted slowly but with undeniable force wrapping harder around his arms and legs.
Rafe's body jerked as the pressure increased, a strained groan forcing its way out of his throat. He felt it immediately. The circulation in his limbs slowed, then stopped, as if the shadows were choking off the flow of blood.
"You killed my friend," Myles said again, his voice colder than before. "Why did you betray us?"
"I—I just… wanted… to weaken everyone first…" He swallowed hard, his throat dry as panic clawed at him. "So I could… take the benefits later…"
Rafe's lips trembled as he tried to respond. The words came out broken and uneven, his voice shaking under the weight of fear.
For a moment, silence happened. Then Myles laughed.
It came out low and bitter, carrying no amusement. It was only hollow and sharp laughs that cut through the air. The sound lingered as his gaze remained fixed on Rafe, but his thoughts had already moved elsewhere.
There was no surprise or disbelief in what he had heard. Only a quiet confirmation.
"This is how it always is…"
The thought settled heavily in his mind.
People like Rafe would always exist. They would always choose themselves over others, always step over someone else's suffering if it meant gaining something in return. It did not matter the world, the circumstances, or the consequences. That part never changed.
"Disgusting…"
The image of Daniel surfaced in his mind. Clara followed right after.
The memory hit without warning, clear and sharp. Their voices, their presence, the way they had stood there not long ago. And now… Gone.
The weight of that realization settled deep, pulling something inside him downward into a quiet emptiness.
Myles' gaze shifted back to Rafe.
There was nothing left in it now.
No anger or hesitation. Only indifference, as if the man in front of him no longer held any value at all.
Rafe felt it immediately.
Panic surged again but now it was stronger than before, breaking through the numbness that had taken over him.
"W-Wait!" he stammered, his voice rising in desperation. "Don't kill me! I—I can help you! I'll join you! I'll be useful, I swear!"
Myles did not respond.
The shadows tightened further.
Then, in a single motion they tore him apart.
"AAAAAAARGH!"
Rafe's scream ripped through the air as the darkness split his limbs from his body without resistance, the force clean and absolute.
His arms and legs were ripped away as if they meant nothing. His body breaking under the control of something he could neither fight nor understand.
The sound cut off abruptly as only his torso and head fell heavily onto the ground. But he was still alive.
His broken body writhed helplessly on the ground, what remained of his body twisting weakly within the spreading pool of his own blood.
His screams no longer carried strength but only raw pain that tore out of him in ragged bursts. Each breath he took was uneven and sounded forced as his body struggled to endure the pain and everything it could no longer sustain.
The ground beneath him darkened as the thick and heavy blood continued to spread, while his movements grew more erratic and desperate.
Myles stood over him and watched.
His gaze remained fixed, cold, and unmoving as he took in the sight without turning away. There was no urgency in him, no hesitation. Only a quiet stillness as Rafe's suffering played out in front of him.
Something dark had just settled in that silence inside his mind. It was not anger. Not even satisfaction. Just a hollow acknowledgment of what was happening.
"P-Please…" Rafe's voice cracked as he struggled to form the words, his body trembling uncontrollably. "Just… kill me…"
Myles did not answer immediately. He continued to look down at him, letting the moment stretch as the sound of Rafe's pain filled the space between them.
Then, without a word, Myles moved.
His Fangblade shot forward in a clean motion, piercing straight through Rafe's head. The scream stopped instantly. The body went still.
The blade pulled free a moment later, drawn back into Myles' hand through the pull of his shadow.
Without another glance, Myles turned and walked away, leaving the corpse behind as his mind sank into a heavy, empty numbness.
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