UnHonor

Chapter 2

A day just like today, a year ago.

A day like every other: after receiving their morning rations, they hurriedly ate and rushed to their hideout. But today was different. Important news was supposed to reach them. Their absent friend, who had not been with them that morning, had promised them that.

It didn't take long for them to reach their hideout, and with their bellies at least no longer screaming from hunger, they buried themselves in their soft masses.

A while passed in the pleasant feeling of satiety before the sound of light, but hurried footsteps echoed through their hideout.

The four of them lifted their heads from their soft masses and looked at the person who had appeared at the cave’s entrance.

A boy slightly shorter than Barry appeared at the cave's entrance. His hair was even yellower than Jesse's, its brilliance impossible for the dirt and oil covering his face to hide, while his eyes were more orange than the pictures of those fruits they had once seen . Their friend was there—the one they hadn't heard from since morning.

“Nathan!” Jesse, who still had enough energy coursing through his body, screamed and rushed forward to hug him. But Nathan stopped him with outstretched arms that strangely no longer seemed as weak as before. He also seemed taller somehow. Then he looked toward his other three friends with an orange but panicked gaze and pleaded in a trembling voice.

“For God's mercy! Hide me! They found me! They found me! I beg you, hide me!”A sudden sense of fear and worry seized his friends' entire being, sending them rushing towards him.

"What's wrong!? What's wrong, Nathan? Are you okay? Are you injured somewhere?" Barry panicked and began to examine Nathan's body quickly.

"For God's sake! Hide me! For God's sake!!!" Every muscle in Nathan began to tremble at the sight of his friends' concern.

Chao, frightened by an expression he had never seen on Nathan's face before, grabbed his strangely stronger and wider shoulders with his bony hands and shouted, “Tell me! Just tell me what happened! I promise we'll help you! Just tell me what happened!”

Nathan, however, could only stare fearfully into his friend's eyes. The only answer he could give was the violent trembling that had overtaken his entire body.

Barry finished his examination quickly and found nothing. Somehow, that frightened him more than anything else. He knew there was only one thing capable of frightening his bravest friend like this. One glance at Darius, who was silently staring at them, told him that Darius had reached the same conclusion.

“Nathan… are the Knights of the Gods after you!?” Darius was afraid of the words even as they left his mouth, breaking the silence that had filled their hideout for several breaths.

No answer was needed. The moment Nathan heard those words, his body trembled violently, his jaw locked, and the strength drained from his legs. He slowly began to fall.

His friends all embraced him with their arms, but even their four empty bodies could not keep him standing. They all fell to the ground together, although this time, unlike the last, none of their bodies were injured.

As their bodies of little more than skin and bones hit the ground, Nathan's trembling spread to the others. It was as though all four of them were confronting the same devastating disaster, even though they knew that only one soul was truly at stake.

Nathan's.

But how could they behave otherwise? The five of them were all they had. They had promised to stay together forever, and now an unstoppable force was coming to tear their dream in half and burn it to ashes.

Their bony hands tore themselves away from the ground and settled against Nathan's body, filling him with the emotions of his friends and giving him the little peace he desperately needed.

The feeling was like finding a piece of wood in an ocean of confusion and fear—a place to hold onto and keep himself from drowning, even if only for a moment.

It's been… five… no, four weeks and twenty hours… if I read the date on the holy screen correctly… since that message of Eternity reached me… I can wish!”With those final words, indescribable excitement erupted within his friends, breathing new life into their trembling hands. But they remembered that Nathan wasn't finished, and every emotion inside them froze once again.

“But… but… but that's not all. They kept appearing every day, one after another, as if they were coming from an endless well in space. One after another, they appeared, filling me with an invisible force… guys… I… I… I acquired the ten primary attributes!”Even though those servants of the gods had somehow already discovered this, Nathan was still terrified of revealing the truth.

So he whispered the words as quietly as he could, yet the absolute silence of the cave carried them clearly to his friends.

"Ten!!!" four people shouted as their breakfast was already losing its last strength.

At the same time, Jesse put his fingers in front of his face and, one by one, after saying their names, he counted them.

"Let me see. One attribute: Mortal. Two attributes: Rare Mortal. Three attributes: Legendary Mortal. Four attributes: Immortal. Five attributes: Rare Immortal. Six attributes: Legendary Immortal. Seven attributes: Angel. Eight attributes: Rankless Angel. Nine attributes: ArchAngel. Ten attributes: Divine!" The last of Jesse's remaining energy seemed to launch him upward as he stared at Nathan in disbelief.

“Nathan, have you become a god!?” Jesse screamed and tried to throw himself at him, but like a shining stone that had finally exhausted its power, the last of Jesse's energy vanished, and he collapsed uncontrollably back onto the ground.

While Jesse excitedly recalled the attribute levels, the other three had gone deathly pale. Using strength they didn't even know they possessed, they clung tightly to Nathan. At that moment, they were shaking just as badly as he was—so violently that if they hadn't been holding onto Nathan with one hand, they might have hurt themselves from the force of their own trembling.

“N… n… n… Nathan… you… you… you mean… you mean…!” Darius forced the words from his mouth so violently that he hurt the corner of his tongue. His trembling friends stared at Nathan's lips, waiting for an answer they still couldn't bring themselves to believe.

"Yeah...I...I can be a god!!!!"

Nathan's voice was strangely calm.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The handmade tin wall they had dedicated most of their short lives to building crumpled like a piece of paper and was hurled into a corner with a terrible metallic crash.

“Oh, look who I finally found. You don't have to be so bad, little boy.”

The young and extremely familiar voice attracted the eyes of each and every one of the boys, except for one of them who was still staring calmly at the ceiling.

They stared at the smiling voice and saw its owner. Green hair, yellow eyes, extremely sharp and white teeth, and a height at least twice as tall as their skinny bodies revealed an extremely familiar girl.

The extremely beautiful girl from the holy screen—the one they had stared at a million times throughout their lives—was standing there, looking at them with the same cheerful eyes she had in the picture.

“How wonderful! You came to your friends! How cute!” she said, her gaze wandering around their hideout. “Wow! You made all this yourselves! How beautiful! I want one too! Can I join you? Don't you want a guest?” Her voice was beautiful, and her words were even more beautiful, but the sharpness hidden within her yellow eyes awakened something deep within their souls. One by one, they forced themselves to their feet and placed their small, bony bodies between her and their still-calm friend, silently declaring that they would protect him.

“Ooooh, how cute!!” The girl, overwhelmed by delight, bent over and shook her head left and right, repeatedly letting out “oh!!” from her mouth.

"You! Get out of our Hideout!" Jesse, angry that this familiar girl had invaded their cave, madly put his palms forward and rushed towards the girl, aiming to push her out of the cave.

“Oh, how cute!!” the extremely beautiful girl said again. In an instant, she reacted to Jesse's charge. And as the smile on her face did not fade for a moment, she slapped Jesse hard with the back of her hand.

Slaaaaaaaaaaap

The drawn-out sound was followed by Jesse's hard impact against the side wall of their cave.

“No! Jesse!!!” Chao screamed as Nathan slowly rose from the ground.

Chao screamed and rushed forward. It was unclear whether his target was the girl or Jesse, who had fallen helplessly on the ground in the path of the girl's movement, or both.

Still wearing her beautiful smile, the girl moved with a speed neither of them had ever seen. As Chao rushed forward, she drove her left foot into his shoulder and, without the slightest resistance, forced him into the ground beneath his feet. A fountain of blood erupted from his shattered bones.

“No! No! No!!!!” Barry shouted, pushing Darius back as he tried to run forward and charging toward the extremely beautiful girl. His goal was to trap her in his long arms and give his friends a chance to escape, even if only for a few seconds. However, as he reached the girl slowly approaching Nathan, he leaped toward her and tried to wrap his arms around her. All he earned was a frown.

“Oh, cute! But dirty!” The shiny pink sole of her shoe vanished from view, and a moment later, it struck Barry's jaw in midair, sending dozens of teeth flying in a shower of blood. Barry spun several times before crashing onto the ground on the back of his head, the impact accompanied by the terrible sounds of his bones breaking.

Nathan was on his feet, staring ahead in silence, his eyes locked with the smiling girl's.

Even the dirt, grime, and oil covering Darius couldn't hide the whiteness of his face. Fear and worry had driven the color from his face, exposing the terror written across it.

"Oh, little bag of honey! Who are you? What are you trying to do?" Her extremely beautiful voice, caressing his soul, made Darius's ears shiver.

“I… I'll wipe that smile off your face!!” Darius shouted. He raised his clenched fists and placed his trembling, weak legs one after another, soon beginning to run—or at least moving at a speed that could generously be called running.

His fists flew as soon as they reached the girl, and she curved her lips into a bright, almost mocking smile as if preparing to answer Darius’ childish punches. But at the last moment, Darius threw his fists down and tackled her, aiming his feet toward the legs of the beautiful girl.

They collided! Darius's dirty, limp shoes struck the girl's legs, clad in tight purple pants. To Darius's surprise, she didn't move even a millimeter—and to the beautiful girl's immense anger, he had managed to dirty them.

The girl didn't back down even a millimeter, but her gaze said something else.

"You! You! Dirty insect! You! You!" The beautiful girl screamed, causing two streams of blood to shoot out of Darius' ears.

The beautiful girl, whose smile now carried a vein of anger, lifted the foot of her pants that had been soiled by Darius and slammed it angrily onto the ground, pinning Darius’s chest—who was trying to dodge—against it.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

"Dirty!" As the shoes became bloody, the beautiful girl's anger grew even greater than before, which resulted in another blow.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG

"Dirty!!!" The blows were slammed onto the ground one after the other.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang

Every bone in Darius's body that could be broken was broken, and somehow, that seemed to cool the girl's anger enough for her to move again.

Darius, the claws of death gripping his soul, moved his rapidly blurring vision and turned to his only friend who was still standing, staring.

Nathan looked at the girl with hatred.

A Knight of the Gods who was slowly walking towards him.

A nightmare he had lived through every moment another attribute joined his soul and future.

A walking bad dream, and because of it, he let it loose.

Suddenly, an orange aura enveloped Nathan's entire being and separated him from the ground!

Nathan hovered in the air!

Darius hadn't even had time to process what he was seeing when Nathan suddenly disappeared. A breath later, he appeared before the smiling girl, his hands moving with the terrifying power of a monster. The girl merely tilted her head to the side and slapped Nathan's hands away. The force behind his attack, unable to find its target, exploded into the cave and shook the air. The resulting wind sent Darius's blood dancing across the ground and stained his clothes with it.

Regardless of the terrifying power that was wasted in vain, Nathan's hands returned and attacked again. This time, if possible, faster than before.

Bam Bam Bam Bam

The fists flew, disappearing aimlessly and falling victim to the dodges of the girl whose smile had grown bigger than before.

As her agile head and body quickly dodged, the girl laughed and said.

"Wow! Cute boy! You haven't made a wish yet, and you are so strong! Wow! Please be my toy!"

Suddenly, their fight entered a new phase. The girl straightened and clasped her hands together before sending them flying toward Nathan in an attempt to slap him.

Nathan, however, did not back down and, while suspended in the air, began to quickly dodge and, at the same time, send his fists, whose orange auras had increased.

Darius's vision grew blurrier and blurrier until all he could see were two indistinct bodies moving through the cave. Somehow, it was enough to witness the end of their short fight.

"You're not as smart as you smile, are you?" Nathan's strangely calm voice reached Darius, which he could imagine was accompanied by the beautiful girl's muffled laughter.

As the last word left Nathan's mouth, a wall—or cloth, or something resembling either—suddenly appeared behind the smiling girl, trapping her for a moment. That was all the opening Nathan needed.

"You hurt them, you'll pay for it yourself."

Nathan's webbed hands flew upward. This time, instead of fists, his hands became enormous claws—at least, that was what they looked like to Darius through his fading vision.

In any case, Nathan's webbed hands that had changed grabbed the head of a girl who was twice as tall as Nathan, and a moment later, amidst the girl's screams filled with pain, a bomb of orange light exploded in the cave!

Boooooooooooooooom

Darius saw nothing but orange. His body, which he hadn't felt for several seconds, suddenly greeted him with a wave of pain and informed him that he was suspended in the air. But the moment that realization reached him, he fell back to the ground—this time safe, without a new wound or drop of blood.

Darius quickly came to his senses and opened his eyes, which had been closed against his will, and hurriedly stared at the place where he felt Nathan's presence.

Nathan was there, looking at him with a smile, a smile that traveled to the back of Darius and the rest of his friends a second later.

Terror gripped Darius's entire being.

The beautiful girl was no longer smiling, nor did she look beautiful. Her left hand was wrapped around Nathan's neck, her claws tipped with sharp red nails. In her right hand was a thin, long sword soaked in blood, a streak of orange running through it. But that wasn't what terrified Darius. Nathan was there, still smiling, caught in the girl's left hand.

He had neither arms nor legs.

"No!!!!!!!!" Darius's scream was lost in the screams of his friends who had regained consciousness.

"Sorry, guys..." Nathan, who was flying in the air with blood spurting from the gaps in his arms and legs, apologized in a voice full of shame that he couldn't even finish with the pressure that was increasing on his neck.

"You...you...you! I'll destroy them! I'll tear each one of them to pieces and show you!!!!"

The green-haired girl, who was no longer beautiful, threatened them with a cold hatred that shook the souls of Darius and his friends. She slowly passed her sword in front of Nathan, whispering magical syllables as she drew it into the fire. Then, with a quick movement, she prepared to swing it.

They knew even the memory of that fire could kill them a thousand times! However, right at that moment, the voices of the other wandering inhabitants who were screaming in search of the source of these explosions echoed in the cave, revealing doubt for the first time in the girl's eyes, which were no longer yellow and had turned the color of blood.

"Just a few more cockroaches, nothing much." The girl whispered nonchalantly and ignited her sword with more force.

FLRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE

A small trembling sound reached everyone in the drying silence of the cave, and a moment later, with the girl's voice full of hatred, it ended.

“The gods' curse be upon you!!!” The girl whispered the words—not from her mouth, but from those red, blood-colored eyes. Then a light shone down upon her from above, and a moment later, she disintegrated and disappeared amid the wailing of the cursed boys.

For six months, every day, for six hours, six minutes and six seconds, the curse was upon them and tormented them.

They didn't know how, but each and every one of the four friends survived the curse unharmed.

No one said it, but they were sure that their fifth friend, who was no longer among them, was the reason, and silent crying was their only way to thank him.

Darius was crying too...if he could.