Evolution of the Ruined Heir

Chapter 342: Letter

Destruction. Devastation. Chaos. Death.

Malakai dreamt of a peaceful night that had been abruptly swept into chaos and death.

He witnessed everything. Screams. Death. Cries.

He hovered in the skies like a green sun, watching. Just watching as darkness came and swept everyone. He felt nothing.

Then the people’s faces began to change. He saw the people he cared about, the only people he had in the world. His heart began to pound, and his radiance grew.

He tore downward and began battling the darkness with all he had. But all he had was not enough. All he had had never been enough.

The darkness was relentless. It swept all like a flood, and Malakai found himself overwhelmed.

In the midst of the darkness, Malakai roared. He cried, he prayed, but nothing changed. The darkness swallowed all.

The darkness had always swallowed all.

Malakai’s eyes snapped open, his breathing ragged. He sat up straight, instantly scanning his surroundings.

The bright rays of the morning sun. The familiar simple room.

“C-crimson hold,” he muttered under his breath. But the feeling of being stared at assaulted him. Malakai turned and saw a petite woman staring at him.

Her crimson eyes were watery, both hands clenched tight. It looked like she would burst out crying at any moment. The name came to him.

“Nyx—”

Malakai felt the firm arms of Nyx wrap around him before he could finish speaking. He was taken aback, until he felt the wet streaks on his chest.

‘She’s crying.’

Malakai hugged her back, tight.

And for a moment, neither spoke a word. They simply remained that way.

‘I’m still alive…’

His memories after his sacrifice were still blurry. He had sent Nyx and the others away, and the darkness had swallowed him whole. The events after that escaped him.

An image suddenly flashed across his mind. One of overwhelming power. Absolute Authority.

‘The sovereign.’ Malakai’s hair stood on end. Now he remembered.

The cataclysmic battle. The insane show of strength. The sovereign had arrived and taken care of the darkness creatures.

Malakai released a breath, clearing his mind. Another thought came to him.

“Nyx.”

Nyx responded by shaking her head against his chest.

‘She’s wiping off her tears.’

Malakai shook his head. Sometimes his guardian acted more like a teenager than a thirty-year-old woman.

Despite wiping her tears away, Nyx still chose to bow, trying to hide her weary eyes.

“Where’s Renlo?”

“The kitchen, ninth vein.”

A deep frown appeared on Malakai’s face.

“Nyx.”

“Nin—”

Malakai suddenly grasped her hand. “We fought together. Survived. Cried. I want you to believe me when I say this, but we’ve gone beyond master and maid.” His tone hardened. “Never address me by my title again, or you’ll be hurting me. It means you don’t hold me in as high regard as I do you.”

The words struck Nyx with sudden weight, and she found herself clenching her fist.

“Y-yes… Malakai.”

Malakai smiled and tapped her slumped shoulders. “Let’s go see that glutton.”

Malakai felt a wave of disorientation hit him the moment he stood. He staggered, but Nyx reached out and caught him.

“I’m fine.”

Though he said this, she didn’t let go. It was only when he was able to stand without wobbling that she released him.

“How long was I out?” Malakai finally asked. He felt weak, drained even. After all the power he used, it would be a miracle for there not to be consequences. Impossible, in fact.

Nyx hesitated, but answered. “Two weeks.”

Malakai’s expression didn’t change.

‘That long… a lot must have happened.’

He needed to scan his body and assess the damage. He needed to find out what happened to the others, and what had occurred during the two weeks he was out.

But Malakai shook his head.

‘Renlo first.’ He had to see him.

So he forced himself to move. Nyx followed closely behind as he slowly made his way to the kitchen.

‘What should I say?’

His thoughts were muddled. He could remember seeing Renlo, laying unconscious on that table. Limbs replaced, face sunken.

Malakai feared for how the boy’s life would be from now on. Was Renlo still Renlo? The naive, clueless boy with a heart warmer than he’d ever seen?

‘I’ll know when I see him.’ Malakai thought as he reached the open door. A happy humming sound reached him. He entered and saw a figure standing in front of the kitchen sink, back facing him.

His height had changed, and so had his physique, though the latter only slightly. But there was no mistaking that voice, that excitement. There was only one person that could radiate such joy while cooking.

“Renlo…”

Renlo paused at the sudden call. He turned, and Malakai didn’t miss the way his eyes lit up.

“M-Malakai?”

Malakai nodded with a smile.

“When did you wake up…”

He approached Malakai, enveloping him in a tight hug. Too tight.

“I’m glad you’re awake!”

‘They’re hard.’

Renlo’s arms felt like steel rather than flesh and bone. Malakai also hadn’t missed his awkward walk as he approached. He felt a pang of sadness and anger, but kept it in.

“Me too,” he said as they both left the hug. Malakai scrutinized Renlo. He was surprised by how clear his vision was, how precise.

“How are you?” he asked.

Renlo smiled. “I’m okay… but I’ll be better when I finish eating. Food is almost ready! You can have some don’t wor—”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Malakai cut him off. “How are you?”

Renlo paused. Under Malakai’s intense stare, the smile on his face crumbled. He shut his eyes, then opened them.

“I’m as fine as anyone who suddenly had his limbs cut off and replaced with beasts’.”

“So terrible.”

Renlo let out a tired chuckle. “More than you can imagine.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t do that.” Renlo’s eyes suddenly flashed with something Malakai determined was coldness. He was shocked. Renlo… cold?

Renlo turned and began setting down plates on the table, as though the action calmed him.

“The only reason I ended up this way is because of my weakness. Nothing else. So please don’t make this any more difficult.”

Malakai didn’t say anything for several moments. Eventually, he nodded.

“Alright. What’s for breakfast?” As he sat, he glanced towards Nyx. “Join us. Don’t argue.”

Nyx resigned, nodding. She joined them at the table. Seconds later, as though hearing the noise, Karla, Unoa, and Kiana walked into the kitchen.

They sank to both knees, paying their respects.

It was only after Nyx explained that she had still been feeding them drops of his blood while he was unconscious that he addressed them. After some back and forth, he ordered them to join at the table.

He was in a good mood, and didn’t want anything to spoil it. They could save everything else for later.

How his body currently felt, the imminent consequences, for now, Malakai wanted nothing more than to cherish this moment. Sharing a meal with those he cherished.

He burned it all into his memory. The smile on Renlo’s face as he served and began eating. The awkwardness of Nyx, who rigidly sat beside him, clearly feeling out of place.

Even the silent bickering between Karla and Unoa made him smile. He was in a good mood. They had survived a crisis none of them would have ever imagined possible, and now, here they were, having breakfast.

As Malakai looked between Renlo and Nyx, a thought suddenly struck him.

‘This is what’s important.’

Life. Happiness. He couldn’t remember the last time he ever felt this way before. Now, he realized something.

Revenge had plagued him since his parents’ death. The only thing that had filled his mind and heart had been revenge. But now, he was starting to see…

‘Revenge isn’t everything.’

There were more things than revenge, and he shouldn’t neglect the people around him because of it.

Malakai smiled as he ate, and he hoped nothing would disturb this moment. But reality was unforgiving.

Malakai caught sight of Nyx freezing. He narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak, she vanished.

The people at the table were startled, but Malakai rose from his seat.

‘Someone’s outside.’

“We have a guest,” he said to the others and made his way out of the manor. Stepping through the door, he caught sight of a crimson-clothed figure leaving the manor.

‘A sovereign’s servant.’ He tensed.

Nyx approached him with a grim look.

“What does he want?”

She bit her lip and hesitantly stretched out a blood-red letter to him.

Malakai held down his unease and took the letter, opening it. He read it all in a glance.

“I’ve been summoned,” he said after a moment, tone grave.

…

Malakai stared at his reflection in the body-sized mirror in the room.

Thirty minutes had passed since he received that letter. Malakai had insisted that they finish their meal first before he left.

It wasn’t that he needed the food, he just needed the time to think.

‘I don’t know what I’m walking into.’

The sovereign was still a difficult man to anticipate. In fact, he wasn’t sure why he was being summoned.

He focused on his reflection one more time. A tall boy stared back. His physique had grown broader, muscles toned and more defined.

He looked every bit a warrior. But Malakai knew. Against the monster that was the eternal blood sovereign, this wasn’t nearly enough.

Done checking his reflection, he turned and left the room. It was time to face the giant of the west.

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