The next day, the entire academy was filled with tension and loud whispers that hid fear. The military courtroom was opened. The academy's top brass, several high-ranking officers, and the observing mages were present.
Inside the courtroom, the girl — still young, dirty, and covered in wounds — stood in the middle, her hands tied, her eyes staring blankly.
"For the murder of two cadets, as well as violating the ethics of using magic in military facilities, the subject will be sentenced to death."
There was no defense. No voices of resistance.
Only silence.
Silence.
As if no one saw that the one standing there was a girl.
However… before the girl was taken away, someone appeared behind the crowd.
Her steps were light. Silent. But full of determination.
Ars Storia.
A four-year-old child who did not look like an ordinary child.
With pale blue eyes, she stood before the girl — who was now on the verge of giving up.
Ars stared at her deeply.
The girl's eyes were blank, almost dead.
But Ars said softly, "You don't have a name yet, do you?"
The girl just stared at him.
Silence.
Ars glanced at the girl's long, messy black hair. Her dark gaze… yet distant, holding embers like the unextinguished night sky. And the weapon she wielded — a short dagger hardened with black metal magic.
"Selena," Ars said.
"You are Selena now."
The girl — Selena — sobbed softly. For the first time, someone had given her a name. An acknowledgement that she was a person, not just a weapon.
But… fate did not allow time.
The execution was set.
Ars could do no more… or at least, that's what everyone thought.
—
A few hours later, Selena's body was laid in the underground freezer. There were no guards. No one willing to bury a "monster."
But Ars was already there.
He walked slowly. Silently. His heart was calm.
He stood beside Selena, staring at her seemingly lifeless body.
Then… he placed his hand on her chest.
Right above her heart.
Light pressure… then a jolt.
"Wake up."
"I know you're not dead."
And sure enough… the body jerked. The eyes opened, slowly.
Selena took a deep breath like someone who had just drowned in the ocean.
"You… how did you know…?" Selena asked weakly.
Ars lowered his head, smiling thinly.
"I understand people who want to die, Selena. But I can also read the eyes of people who are pretending to be dead."
"You diverted the path of your magic. Suppressed the heartbeat. Only someone who is highly trained… or very desperate, can do that."
Selena was silent. Then she smiled slightly.
A smile that had never appeared before.
"Then… now I am yours?"
Ars looked at her with a flat… yet deep expression.
"You are free. But if you want to live… follow me."
"This world will show us no mercy. So we must tear it up from the roots."
"From now on, you are my shadow, Selena."
And in that silent room, two young children — victims of the same world — made a silent promise.
Little did they know… that the right hand of the monster who would shake the world… had just been reborn.
As Selena knelt before Ars in the shadow of the silent cold room, her voice was steady.
"I don't want to be free. I want to... be yours, Ars."
Ars stared at her intently, but before she could answer—
Kreeekk.
A strange sound was heard... from within his own body.
Ars' heart beat irregularly. His breath hitched.
His small body slowly trembled, then froze.
Like all his nerves... stopped receiving commands.
"W...what is this...?" Ars whispered, with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
Instantly his vision darkened.
Crash!
His body collapsed on the stone floor. Selena screamed in panic, but Ars' body was no longer moving.
___
In his mind...
Ars stood in a black room. Silent. Frozen.
The air wrapped around his body like the mist of a winter night. He still stood upright, with his usual cold gaze, but this time, there was something lurking within him.
Then, there appeared... the figure.
A human shadow. Exactly like Ars.
The same face. The same eyes. But a sly smile and an inexplicable dark aura.
"Finally we meet…" the figure said.
"The successor of the ancient magic blood. The place I have been searching for for hundreds of years."
Ars was undaunted. "Who are you…?"
"I am the remnant of the last generation of demons."
"Ancient magic never dies… we only wait for a vessel strong enough."
The figure approached, his smile widening like a disguised demon.
"And you… since you were a baby… the power within your body is like the black sun. You are perfect."
He touched Ars' chin.
"Let me stay… I will give you the power to burn the world."
Then—he tried to kiss Ars on the lips.
But…
CRASH!
"You stupid pervert."
Ars kicked the figure's face with his knee, as hard as he could.
In one swift movement, he flipped the figure's body, bent its dark arms, and slammed the body of darkness into the ground of his own mind.
Ars' small hands tore into the figure's chest, gripping the black energy at the heart of the shadow.
"You think I'll be a puppet?"
"Wrong."
"From now on, you belong to me. Not the other way around."
Ars grabbed the heart of the energy and locked it in a seal he formed from ancient logic magic and the coldness he had been suppressing.
The figure screamed, not because of pain, but because of... amazement and fear.
"You... little monster... child of the devil!"
Ars just grinned.
"Thank you. I like that name."
—
The real world.
Ars opened his eyes.
The ticking of the wall clock. The scent of antiseptic. The quiet ward.
He sat up immediately, breathing heavily. His eyes sharpened, looking around.
Selena was gone.
The young nurse appeared from behind the curtain.
"Oh my! Are you awake? You fainted in front of the morgue, Miss Ars!"
Ars was silent.
"In front of the room…?"
His memory spun quickly.
Finally… Selena. The execution. The healing. The collapse of her body…
Then he touched his own chest.
The energy… was still there. But not wild. It was tamed.
"So… Selena dragged me here?"
His smile was faint.
"Interesting…"
Now, he had two secrets:
One, the right hand of the shadow named Selena.
Two, the ancient demonic power that resided in his body — completely under his control.
And no one knew.
From the outside, Ars was just an ordinary little girl.
But behind her cold smile, there was a storm that was slowly preparing its steps to destroy the world that had destroyed her once.