Finally, having reached the gloomy streets of the village, Eclipse's glare pierced straight into the Village Hall, which stood tall not far from him. The dark mist which radiated off him previously had ceased, but his eyes retained their deep black, which flowed with endless lament and hatred.

  "W-w-what are you?!" A stall owner fell on his back in horror as Eclipse walked past his stall, not giving him any attention in the slightest.

  "Is that… Duozian’s kid?!" The villagers whispered amongst themselves in a hushed tone. More and more people came near him but kept their distance, noticing the abnormality in his eyes and the deep stygian imprints on the ground which trailed all the way into the woods.

  “Something about him is a lot… different…”

  “His… eyes…!”

  Eclipse's dim vision was focused solely on the village hall as he walked closer to it, step by step. Since he was in the village centre, most people had already seen him, and the slightly braver ones were following. Some ran away in fear, while others looked completely dumbfounded.

  Standing right in front of the tall building, Eclipse squinted and walked up the stairs to the entrance when, all of a sudden, a large contour appeared in front of him, obstructing Eclipse's path. It was a Dracoferus Tribesman. "Turn back, runt. No one’s allowed in here."

  Eclipse didn’t even look at him and simply walked around him as if he were nothing more than a rock in the path. The Dracoferus tribesman, broad-shouldered, wrapped in thick fur with a longbow strapped across his back, clicked his tongue in irritation. His heavy boots scraped against the wooden platform as he stepped forward, blocking Eclipse’s path once more.

  “Oi,” the tribesman growled, his voice rough like gravel, “You don’t walk past me without answering.”

  He reached out as though to grab Eclipse’s shoulder.

  He never got to touch him, though.

  In the split second before contact, Eclipse turned, his arm whipping out like a striking viper. His fingers clamped around the tribesman’s throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground and suspending him over the stairway.

  Gasps broke out from the villagers below.

  “G-guuuh… l-let me go…!” the tribesman rasped, his boots kicking helplessly in the air. He clawed at Eclipse’s arm with trembling hands, but Eclipse’s grip didn’t budge. Not even slightly.

  The tribesman struggled as he clawed and scratched at Eclipse's hand, but his grip didn't loosen in the slightest. When he finally saw Eclipse's face, he instantly stagnated and felt all of his willpower seep away in terror. Eclipse's face showed no emotion, but his eyes looked at him like he was staring at an insect. At that moment, Eclipse had become the devil whilst he was a mere mortal sinner, trembling as he waited for his punishment.

  The tribesman’s lips quivered, barely forming a whisper. “De…mon…”

  CRRACK.

  The sickening snap echoed across the village square. The tribesman’s head twisted unnaturally to the side, his body falling limp in Eclipse’s grasp as the watching villagers stood frozen, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

  Inside the dimly lit room, two figures were talking. One was a middle-aged man in fur-clad black robes, whilst the other was a scrawny-looking old man. These two were the Village Chief and the Dracoferus tribesman, Baki.

  Baki finally stood up, and the Village Chief clasped his hands together, "And that's all that I wanted to discuss with you today, sir Baki. Our village is growing a lot better."

  "Hmph." The man grunted proudly. "That's what I do."

  The village chief smiled, "I am sorry if my village doesn't provide all of the comfort and luxuries that you want, haha… but you should know that I will always be loyal to you and the Dracoferus Tribe."

  "Argh! Cut it out with the useless flattery." He said, "Before I leave, I'm telling you once again. You’d better make sure this incident doesn’t get to anyone. Chief Khali won't be happy if it does"

  The mention of Chief Khali sent a shiver down the Village Chief's spine. That man was known to be a cruel, savage leader and had the power to wipe out villages at will. The old man swallowed, then nodded vigorously, "Of course. Of course, haha-"

  Suddenly, a thunderous boom resounded, and the wall at the entrance exploded. The Village Chief stumbled in shock and then fell on his buttocks, breaking into a cold sweat.

  Behind the dust and rubble, a single silhouette stood.

  The Village Chief instantly got to his feet and slammed the table, "Who dares to show this much disrespect when-"

  His voice didn't come out because once the smoke receded, a lone boy stood. His grey hair danced to the momentum of the dark wisps surrounding him, and every part of his eyes radiated with black fluorescence.

  "Duozian’s… grandson?" The Village Chief muttered in dumbfounded shock.

  As Eclipse stood there, unmoving, the two grew more and more nervous. They didn't know what to say as this was all too sudden, not to mention his terrifyingly morbid appearance and the fact that he detonated his way through the wall.

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  "You killed him…" Eclipse muttered. His quiet but hoarse voice was directed at Baki. He struggled to his feet then straightened up as premonition seeped into his heart.

  Eclipse then started to walk towards him, one step at a time. Fear-struck, Baki slowly backed away, "What… do you mean…?"

  "You killed him," Eclipse said, his voice a little louder, his eyes dead-set on his trembling figure.

  "I… I…" Baki had no idea what to say. Of course, he knew what he meant - he was talking about his grandfather, Duozian, but how on earth could Eclipse connect Duozian's death to him?

  Baki glared at the Village Chief before looking back at him, "Little boy- ARGH!"

  Eclipse, who had been a couple of metres away from where they were, was suddenly standing right in front of him. The Village Chief fell on his bottom once again.

  "What're you... going to do?! Get away from me!" Baki tried to back off further, but he had already been cornered against the wall.

  Eclipse then lifted a single finger and pointed at a frightened Baki, who felt hot fluid drip down his lower garment. A ray of shadowy light flashed, like an arrow shot from a bow, and flew straight into his mouth

  "ARRRGH!" A shrill and mournful scream escaped from Baki’s mouth. The black shadow had instantly struck his tongue, and in that moment, a fountain of blood, stained in black, erupted from it. A chunk of flesh, which had been his tongue, followed and splattered onto the concrete floor. He clutched and clawed at his mouth in futility as he dropped to his knees, his eyes rolling to the back of his head in agony.

  Eclipse suddenly stepped forward and crushed Baki’s tongue under his feet, a disturbing squelch coming from underneath.

  "Ughh… agh…" Baki tried to say something, but what came out was the croak of a dying man.

  The Village Chief's eyes grew wide with horror and incredulity as he stared at Baki writhing in agony on his knees. The Chief’s legs gave out, and he plopped to his bottom.

  All of a sudden, tangible black mist erupted from Eclipse's body and spiralled uncontrollably around the tribesman in a deathly vortex. A wave of pure black aura suddenly barraged onto Baki’s body, and his body split open and burst with a gory shower of blood.

  That moment had been his last breath. With his body split in two halves, his organs spilt out and trashed into the ground.

  The Village Chief got up slowly, staggered and fell back a few steps, unable to believe what he was seeing. As Eclipse finally turned to face him, he broke into a cold sweat.

  "S-spare me…" He squeaked, then fell on his bottom once more.

  "You're... unforgivable!" Eclipse muttered.

  "I… I don't understand what you mean…" The Village Chief tried to get up but immediately fell back down.

  "You know... exactly what I mean!" Eclipse growled, his voice lower and raspier. The black glow in his eyes grew more intense as he quickly lashed out his fist at the nearby wall, causing it to collapse.

  "A-ah..." For the first time in his life, the Village Chief understood true terror. Regret boiled in his insides as his trousers became patched with urine.

  "Are you happy now that you've driven me into this state? Huh?!" Eclipse forcefully lifted him by his collar. "Are you damn happy now that you collaborated with the damned Dracoferus Tribe to kill my old man?!”

  "I…I…" He tried to say something, but nothing came out. In fact, it was more like he knew he didn't have the right to say anything. "I didn’t-"

  Without warning, Eclipse clawed towards his head. Before he could let out a cry or even know what was going on, Eclipse's hand plunged into his head, his hand easily shattering his skull.

  With his mouth wide open in mid-sentence, his body dropped to the ground and stained the rug red. Eclipse didn't have the slightest ripple of emotion as he looked at the organ he had just plunged out. Soon, a peculiar aura rose from his hand and instantly charred the brain to dark ash.

  On the floor, lay the rotting corpses of two of the most powerful figures in this village. Eclipse’s lips curled up ever so slightly.

  All of a sudden, he stagnated.

  “Argg- ARGH!” Eclipse groaned as he clutched his head and stumbled around the room as though he were a madman. An excruciating pain pierced his mind. He took a step back and let out another cry of agony, clutching his head frantically. His muscles burned, and his blood roiled as his world spun, his vision slowly growing crimson.

  Before long, the colours in his perception turned completely red, and all sounds around him turned into a deafening resonation. He continued to howl in pain while clutching his heart as the dark, enigmatic mist furiously bubbled and spiralled around him. It had surrounded him within a radius of three metres, and soon enough, it was five. Everything it contacted charred into fine black ash as it rampaged within the Village Hall.

  Before long, the spiralling vortex slowly submerged into a translucent sphere as it grew larger and larger, destroying and absorbing anything that stood in its path. As the radius grew to ten metres, the surrounding walls got swallowed up by the ever-expanding mist, causing the roof to collapse towards Eclipse, but the moment the rubble touched the sphere, it vanished.

  Within the sphere, Eclipse was writhing on the floor. He had never felt pain like this before. This was undoubtedly the most helpless he had felt in his lifetime thus far. Tears and saliva dripped to the floor as the pain ran rampant in his body, weakening his will and breaking his spirit.

  Soon, he completely lost consciousness, unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

  As the large crowd outside waited for the outcome in anticipation, shouts of shock suddenly erupted among them. The Village Hall began to groan, first with a faint creak, then another, louder and deeper.

  In the next moment, its walls simply vanished. An expanding black sphere surged outward from the centre of the hall, growing larger at a terrifying pace. It did not appear to move so much as consume, swallowing everything in its radius.

  When the last fragments of the Village Hall were devoured, and the sphere continued to swell, only then did the people understand the horror before them. Their expressions shifted from confusion to utter terror. Panic-stricken cries filled the cold air as villagers turned on their heels and ran, pushing, stumbling, clawing for any hope of escape.

  But the sphere showed no mercy. The larger it grew, the faster it expanded. And the faster it expanded, the fewer legs could hope to outrun it. People vanished the moment its edge grazed them, their bodies dissolving into nothingness without a trace. Homes collapsed into the void as if they had never existed. The ground itself buckled and folded inward, swallowed in an unending hunger.

  Animals fled in maddened terror. Chickens scattered with frantic clucks before their forms blinked out in silence. Rats tried to scurry away as fast as they could. Dogs barked and whined as they scrambled for shelter that no longer existed. Even the birds overhead were not spared. Dozens tried to flee into the sky but were overtaken mid-flight, their silhouettes disappearing soundlessly into the growing abyss.

  It was destruction without blood, fire, or even any noise. It was simply an erasure, absolutely indifferent to the desperate cries of the living. In the span of a few breaths, the sphere rolled across the final row of huts, consuming wood, stone, soil, and every last villager who had called this place their home.

  Before long, nothing remained.

  No houses. No animals. No traces of life. The entire Grapefruit village had been engulfed completely, leaving behind only a hollow ground where a thriving settlement had stood just moments before.