2025-09-29 22:03:01
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Ethan finally understood.The truth did not descend on him like a single blow — it settled slowly, layer by layer, until the full weight of it pressed against his chest.Everything… the fall of the Storms… the shattered legacy… the scars of his childhood…None of it had been coincidence.None of it had been fate.It had been orchestrated.“It was them,” Ethan murmured, voice low, steady, but trembling beneath the surface. “The evil forces. The demons… and the families who serve them.”John nodded solemnly.“Yes,” he said quietly. “Every tragedy that befell your house… every disaster that seemed random… every disappearance…” His eyes dimmed. “They were all connected.”Ethan drew in a slow breath.A memory flashed through him —Smoke.Screams.His mother’s voice calling his name in the darkness.His fists tightened.“My parents,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Where are they? Do you know?”John’s gaze softened — sorrow, regret, and uncertainty swirling inside it.“…No,” he admitted.
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“…But tonight,” John continued — eyes burning now with conviction — “I saw it again. The light. The storm. You did not merely fight the parasite… you purified it. You banished it completely.”He leaned forward, breath unsteady but filled with certainty.“Twenty years ago… a prophet came to us. Cloaked in gray. Eyes clouded with visions.” His voice grew hushed. “She spoke of the Storm family. She said: ‘The blood sleeps now… but a new Holy Knight will be born — one who will awaken the stormlight again. When darkness rises… he will stand at the edge of fate.’”His gaze locked onto Ethan.His hands trembled faintly on the blanket.“At first… many dismissed her. They believed the Storm gift extinct — a relic of myth. But there were others… people who did not react with disbelief.”His expression darkened.“They reacted with fear.”Ethan’s brow furrowed.“Fear… of the Storm power?” he asked quietly.John nodded, eyes shadowed.“Yes. Because the return of a Holy Knight meant something else
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“Everyone out,” John repeated.Chris blinked. “Father—? But—”John’s voice hardened.“Everyone. Including you, Chris. Leave the room immediately.”The room went still.Chris hesitated — confused — hurt — clearly reluctant to go.“Father… why? Ethan just—”John didn’t look at him. His gaze never left Ethan.“Because,” he said, voice low, unyielding.“I have something to tell Ethan. And it must be said to him alone.”For a moment, Chris stood frozen — torn between obedience and concern — until the guards moved beside him, making it clear the order was not optional. He was forced to leave.He swallowed, shaken.He glanced at Ethan — uncertain — searching his face.Ethan gave a small nod.“It’s all right,” he said calmly.Chris lingered a heartbeat longer… then bowed his head.“Very well.”He turned — guiding the guards and Morrison out.The door closed.Silence fell.Only Ethan and John remained.John exhaled slowly.His expression darkened.And when he finally spoke…His voice carried w
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Ethan turned toward Morrison.But instead of anger — there was only calm.A quiet, steady calm that silenced the room more completely than thunder.Morrison swallowed, bracing for condemnation.Chris’s jaw was tight, his voice shaking with restrained fury. “You endangered him. You nearly—”Ethan lifted a hand gently.“Chris,” he said softly. “Wait.”Chris blinked — startled. “What? Ethan, after what he just—”Ethan stepped closer to Morrison.The doctor stiffened… unable to meet his eyes.Ethan spoke slowly.“The serum…” he said, voice level, deliberate. “It didn’t affect the creature inside John. That much is true.”Morrison winced.His throat tightened.Ethan continued.“But that doesn’t mean it failed.”Morrison’s head snapped up in disbelief.“W–What?” he stammered. “I… I don’t understand.”Ethan nodded faintly toward John.“When the parasite was removed,” he said gently, “his body should have collapsed. The damage it left behind was severe — years of decay. But…”He placed a hand
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Morrison’s lips twitched — the confident mask he’d worn all evening shattering at the edges.“I… this— this reaction is… unexpected,” he stammered, voice thin, eyes darting to the monitors as if they could save his dignity. No… this can’t be real. I ran the numbers. I reviewed the data. I am the expert here… I cannot be wrong… not in front of them…Chris didn’t even hear him.All his focus was on Ethan.“Please — keep going!” Chris urged, clutching the bed frame, hope and terror tangled in his voice. “Whatever you’re doing — it’s working!”Ethan didn’t respond — his jaw was tight, eyes narrowed in fierce concentration.The humming grew louder.The light in the room dimmed further, shadows bending toward Ethan’s hand like iron filings to a magnet.The dark mass writhed violently now, thrashing, desperate.“Come out,” Ethan muttered through clenched teeth. “You don’t get to feed anymore.”The blackness twisted, shuddered — and then—It tore free.A stream of thick, oily mist burst upwar
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Ethan stepped closer, eyes locked on John. He could see it now—not with sight alone, but with something deeper. Veins darkened beneath John’s skin, pulsing as though something were crawling through them. The shadows around his chest thickened, clinging unnaturally.“You didn’t cure him,” Ethan said coldly. “You poisoned him. Or worse—you empowered it.”Morrison turned on him, anger flashing. “I told you to stay out of this. You’re not a physician—”A sudden scream cut him off.John cried out in agony, a raw, broken sound that echoed off the stone walls. His back arched violently, and for a split second, a dark shape pressed outward against his chest, as though something inside him were trying to tear its way free.Chris stumbled back, horror etched across his face. “What… what is happening to him?!”Ethan moved without thinking. He planted himself beside the bed, one hand hovering over John’s chest. The air beneath his palm burned cold, like frost and fire colliding.“This thing,” Eth
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