The fire within the pool of blood radiated searing heat, causing anyone who stood too close for too long to suffer horrific burns and an intense internal pressure from the heat.

  Even the thick police uniforms could barely withstand it. Fortunately, none of them made direct contact with the flames. The four officers immediately stepped back three paces to keep their distance.

  Frederico, one of the officers, had already left the area several minutes earlier to search for something. Meanwhile, the captain called over two other officers who had been extinguishing the remaining flames. The police did not immediately inform the others about the pool of blood. Anxiety and confusion had gripped the captain's mind tightly, especially after realizing that no casualties had been found despite such a devastating house fire.

  Not long after, a sound like falling raindrops echoed just as the officer was about to tell the citizens to move away from the scene.

  From the pool of blood, the strange creature that had caused the fire emerged. Its form resembled a human, yet it bore a horrifying face combined with two sharp horns on its forehead and two black wings spread wide, nearly covering part of the crowd.

  The citizens who saw it fell silent, including the six police officers, the four firefighters beneath them, Albert, and Liam. The atmosphere turned grim and suffocating. The air felt choked. Time seemed to slow.

  Several people froze in fear, their mouths tightly shut as if something unseen pressed down on their shoulders to keep them silent. All eyes were fixed on the strange figure hovering above.

  The creature flapped its wings once, scattering a few feathers before awareness seemed to waver. The people nearby stepped back in terror, assuming the movement was a warning that it would kill them. Two seconds later, a scream rang out, and a woman in the crowd immediately fled in panic as fast as she could.

  From that single scream, the crowd scattered left and right, abandoning the area to return to their respective homes.

  But escaping was not as easy as they imagined. Some selfish individuals shoved others aside without care. A few were pushed into the river and immediately swept away by the strong current.

  There were two escape routes, one straight path leading to Main Street No 11, and another toward the bridge on the right.

  Four officers approached, attempting to calm the situation, but their efforts failed. They were confronted by a bearded man who ordered the police not to interfere and demanded that the strange creature be eliminated immediately.

  One of the officers refused, his emotions surging. The officer, wearing a single star badge on his chest, raised his firearm and aimed it directly at the man's temple.

  Click. His index finger nearly pulled the trigger when the captain covered the barrel of the weapon with his hand and shook his head.

  "Understood," the officer said after seeing the captain's command.

  The bearded man panicked. He growled in anger and left while shoving the people around him.

  Meanwhile, four firefighters ran forward trembling and asked the officers about the strange creature that had suddenly appeared. The six officers shook their heads in unison, unsure how to respond.

  At the same time, Albert handed one of the revolvers to Liam. He told him to prepare to shoot the creature, especially its wings and wrists, even if it seemed impossible.

  "Do you know what that is?" Liam asked in panic, seeing such a creature for the first time in his life.

  Albert exhaled before answering. "Yes, I do. That winged creature is none other than your friend, Forn."

  'I am no longer surprised after being told by the man with glasses,' he whispered inwardly.

  "I already knew this would happen. I am sorry I did not tell you," Albert murmured, his heart feeling as though it were being sliced repeatedly by a blade.

  "What!?" Liam muttered in shock, realizing that the winged creature was Forn. He had no idea how Albert knew.

  He fell silent, wondering who Albert truly was.

  The glint from the silver revolver briefly blinded him. Liam quickly refocused, raised the weapon, and without hesitation aimed exactly as Albert had instructed earlier.

  His breath hitched as if he hesitated to do it. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and signaled to attack simultaneously.

  "Now!" Liam shouted, his voice nearly rising.

  Bang! Bang!

  The bullets tore through the air, striking the right and left wings. The winged creature, Forn, screamed in pain. At that moment, the consciousness controlling Forn's body began to falter, and the creature instinctively covered its wrists with its hardened wings.

  At that time, Forn was trapped in a strange dream, controlled by a second level evil spirit named Immeridya. It was unknown how she had taken control, but the spirit intended to destroy everything it saw for now.

  Although that desire had not yet been fulfilled because the creature's condition had reached ninety percent, disrupted by Forn's resistance. It needed only a little more before it could move freely and potentially burn an entire district with a single breath.

  The police and firefighters were stunned by the sudden gunfire. The captain's eyes widened when he saw Albert blink twice, as if signaling something important.

  With experience and an understanding of body language, the captain immediately grasped it after thinking quickly and ordered all his subordinates to fire at the flying creature.

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  "Are you certain, Captain?" one of them asked, doubtful whether his weapon could wound such a monster.

  "Trust me," the captain replied calmly, though his nerves were taut. Even he was not certain whether bullets could defeat such a horrifying being.

  Although Albert had used his revolver earlier, and the number of bullets could be considered insufficient to destroy the black wings shielding the creature's wrists.

  He forced himself to remain calm, to think positively, believing that he and everyone present could defeat the monster. At the same time, he wanted to save Forn from the evil spirit's control and repay the debt that continued to haunt his mind.

  He drew a deep breath. Then—

  "Fire!" Albert shouted loudly, followed by a barrage of gunshots.

  As he had expected, the bullets did not even scratch the monster's wings. Before the creature fully transformed into a more horrifying form, Albert wanted to defeat it as quickly as possible.

  But he could not. He was only an ordinary human relying on a revolver. Unlike others, he possessed no special ability bound to Receivers or Hollow.

  He felt despair, yet seeing the police and Liam continue firing without hesitation, Albert offered a faint smile at their struggle, then slipped his right hand into his coat pocket.

  A bottle with a talisman bearing unique engravings, topped with a carved symbol of a star and crescent, rested in his grasp. Liam noticed it reflexively, stopped shooting, and stepped closer to understand what Albert intended to do.

  "Is that a talisman? And what are you going to do with those items?" Liam asked curiously, wanting to know how such objects functioned in this world.

  Yes. Liam knew what a talisman was. Even on Earth, in his hometown, people believed talismans could repel evil spirits, ghosts, and bring good fortune.

  That was all. Nothing more.

  In the past, he had not believed in such things. He had lived as an ordinary person, considering them foolish and irrational.

  Albert ignored Liam's question. His eyes were focused on the engravings of the talisman, while his left hand gripped the narrow bottle sealed with a wooden cork.

  "O Fortune, I beg you. Drive away exhaustion and evil from her body," Albert's voice rose. "Let her sleep peacefully, and protect that fragile body from what dwells within."

  Suddenly, a blackish purple aura enveloped the talisman. The sky above seemed to react, turning gray, and a calming presence descended. The talisman slipped from Albert's grasp, propelled on its own at extraordinary speed toward the creature's neck, then vanished before touching its physical body.

  "Uaghhhh....."

  The strange winged creature screamed, its voice piercing enough to deafen them all.

  Then its body vanished.

  The sky returned to normal as if signaling that the situation had changed. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the body of a woman who hovered briefly before falling downward.

  All who witnessed it could not believe that Albert had defeated the creature with what they had assumed was merely an ordinary sheet of paper, though in truth it was a talisman infused with a fading incantation.

  Albert gripped the bottle tightly and hurled it toward Forn's unconscious body, which hovered above the charred ruins, defying gravity.

  The atmosphere became calmer, though the previous tension still gripped their minds. The six police officers approached, followed by the firefighters, intending to thank him for helping to ease the crisis.

  Meanwhile, Albert quickly moved toward where Forn's body lay, with Liam following behind.

  Worry made their steps heavy yet firm. Albert slowly lifted Forn's head and tried to wake her. But he failed. Forn remained unconscious. The six officers approached, and the captain asked who the woman was who had suddenly appeared after the winged creature disappeared.

  Albert left the question unanswered. His jaw tightened, his hands clenched, overwhelmed by emotions he could not show after seeing the black lines on Forn's neck.

  Liam turned, his face full of pity as he responded. "She is the owner of this house, and also my friend," Liam said hoarsely.

  The captain nodded and immediately ordered his subordinates to transport Forn's body to a medical facility for further treatment. Once she regained consciousness, he intended to interrogate her.

  Before that, the captain asked Liam for permission as her friend. Liam agreed, as did Albert. Both of them hoped Forn would be alright and awaken soon.

  Although from Albert's experience and similar cases he had heard about, or information from the man with glasses, there was a fifty fifty chance that Forn would fall into a coma, with no one knowing when she would awaken. In the other possibility, death would claim her swiftly.

  For now, he chose not to tell Liam that crucial information and decided it would be better to wait for further news and inform the man with glasses as soon as possible.

  Not long after that thought crossed his mind, the sound of horse hooves scraping against stone and carriage wheels rolling echoed from a distance, accompanied by a short rhythmic neigh. A police carriage arrived, roofed and bearing an intricate emblem with a crescent clearly displayed on its rear.

  Two officers asked the captain for permission and promptly lifted Forn's body into the carriage.

  They both stood silently, giving a thumbs up signal to the officer standing beside the carriage door.

  The pale faced coachman wearing a half tall hat nodded. The whip cracked through the air. The horse neighed loudly, and the carriage sped down the cobbled road, wheels racing. The tension slowly faded, leaving a single destination ahead, the nearest hospital.

  Meanwhile, the captain and three of his men continued interrogating Albert. From behind, Liam overheard fragments of their conversation and chose not to interfere.

  After the winged creature vanished, the firefighters took the initiative to extinguish the remaining flames. They were also instructed by the police not to approach the pool of blood.

  Liam turned toward the ruins of the house and saw the remnants of the wooden staircase. Suddenly, he remembered the pool of blood he had seen earlier.

  He immediately ran toward the bloodstain, which turned out to be the path leading to the stairs, now surrounded by fallen debris. When he arrived, he was shocked to see that the blood had not diminished in the slightest, remaining exactly as before.

  "What is this? This… this cannot be ordinary blood," Liam said in panic. He thought that normal blood exposed to extreme heat would change color and emit a strange odor. But this!

  Absorbed in that thought, the shirt that should have been hidden beneath his coat began to melt slowly, as if burned by something. Yet Liam felt no heat on his body.

  Four firefighters who had finished their task were about to inform the police. But one of them, a woman, saw Liam crouching near the pool of blood.

  She lowered her cloth mask and immediately shouted in panic, "Run… do not just stand there!"

  The shout echoed, breaking the silence and replacing it with confusion that allowed those nearby to immediately understand. Liam quickly stood, trying to locate the source of the voice.

  From outside the house, or at least it should have been.

  "What is happening?" Albert muttered in confusion, still being questioned by the captain.

  As Liam stood there, after hearing the dripping sound and smelling burning fabric, he looked down at his white shirt, now riddled with holes and releasing liquid that continued to drip, soaking the tips of his shoes.

  Yet he did not know why his shirt was melting. Liam froze in shock when the pool of blood formed floating words in the Talazze language.

  –––

  Damn you... This world will soon be destroyed. Know that I will change this world, even if I must become the villain. Remember that my existence is very real. Liam Tirarty...

  –––

  The words echoed in his mind, making him reconsider the strange warning, and he was shocked that his name was clearly written at the end of the sentence.

  "What does this mean?" Liam muttered softly. "Is this a warning for me?" He pointed at himself, and at that same moment the writing vanished.

  Four firefighters approached him, including the woman who no longer wished to see innocent lives lost.

  "Hey, have you lost your mind?" the woman asked anxiously, thinking Liam no longer cared about his own life.

  Liam shook his head and replied with a faint smile, "No, I do not know anything, perhaps."

  "How could I know if no one told me beforehand?" he added, feeling that this was the safest response.

  Hearing that, the woman clenched her fists tightly, her face reddening as though she could barely restrain her anger. But one of her colleagues stopped her, gently loosening her grip with his own hand.

  "That is enough. The police did not inform him about the bloodstain either," the man said softly while removing his cloth mask.

  The woman tried to calm herself, easing the tension in her face and hands. She stepped two paces forward and spoke with a somber expression.

  "I am sorry if I was too emotional with you. This is not the first or second time I have experienced something like this. My heart is tired, and I keep feeling frustrated seeing lives lost because of incidents like this," she said, lowering her head to glance at the black ash on her shoes before it scattered with the wind.

  'What does she mean? So it is not only Forn who experienced this? I know. Even Zavi once went mad,' Liam muttered inwardly.

  He answered the question himself.

  He covered his face with both hands for a moment, then walked away without saying anything to the woman. From a distance, the female firefighter stared at his back, feeling that her words had dampened his mood.

  She hurried after him, and when she caught up, she grasped Liam's hand tightly.

  "I am sorry if my words made you uncomfortable," the woman said again, holding back tears from falling down her graceful face before finally breaking into sobs as traumatic memories resurfaced.

  Her grip tightened, making Liam's eyes widen at the sudden action. His expression softened, and he spoke with a small smile.

  "It is alright, do not worry. I am sorry if I did something reckless that could have endangered my life," Liam said while gently trying to free his hand.

  Meanwhile, the police, the other firefighters, and Albert watched the scene. They could only stand, observe, and choose not to interfere.

  At last, Liam walked toward Albert, slipped his right hand into his trouser pocket, and handed the silver revolver back to him, intending to return it.

  He patted Albert's shoulder once, unconsciously influenced by Leo's habit, before continuing his steps, heading back toward his home in the Chapena district. For some reason, the image of his new family at home suddenly crossed his mind.

  Liam kept walking, holding back pain and sorrow, restraining his tears from falling onto his weary and confused face. His eyes were half closed as he moved forward.

  Not long after, a shout calling his family name echoed behind him. Liam immediately turned and saw Albert running while holding his hat to keep it from being carried away by the wind.

  When he reached him, Albert handed the silver revolver back and asked him to keep it and use it if necessary. A gift of introduction.

  Liam gave a brief smile. He turned away without saying a single word as he left Albert standing in the middle of the quiet cobbled street.