"What kind of party?" Hayden asked curiously. He was eager to know more because this was the first party that he ever had since he was here.

"It's called Boundless Night. This party was being held to commemorate the birth of the Zenith kingdom. Also, to express our gratefulness for all of the successful things that our kingdom had achieved." Fay explained.

"Boundless Night, such a good name." Hayden murmured.

"Of course, it happens only once every two years and we are being invited as a royal guest. We will definitely enjoy our time there." Fay said excitedly. "Besides…" She grinned while smirking mischievously.

"What?" Hayden asked while narrowing his eyes. He got a slight feeling that Fay was up to no good.

"It's nothing, hehe. I just thought that I need to dress well because I will be accompanying you." Fay smiled sweetly.

Hayden blushed while thinking that his sister really got a sweet mouth. If only she behaved like this towards many other men, she would definitely attract all of their attention and make them fall for her.

"You really know what to say." Hayden laughed helplessly.

Fay also laughed. Time passed and suddenly, she remembered that there was something important that she needed to discuss with her brother. Hence, she stopped laughing and pulled Hayden straight towards the seat.

Hayden was startled. He wanted to ask her why, but when he saw Fay's serious expression. He held his mouth and waited for her to tell it all by herself.

"I see that you adapt quite fast brother. It's been one month now and now is finally the time that I can ask you this question." Fay said seriously.

Actually, she didn't want to ask this question because she thought that Hayden still needed more time to recuperate. But looking at her brother's current condition, she felt that now was the right time.

"Tell me brother, what happened to you before?" Fay asked. "Last time, Estelle found you lying unconscious deep inside of the forest with internal injury all over your body. That happened one month before you woke up. At that time, I was really lost, afraid of losing you because I saw you after without any signs of life." She explained sorrowfully.

Hayden was astounded. He had never heard about this thing before and this information made him feel slightly surprised. Now, he finally acquired some clues. Maybe something had happened before to the old owner of this body and it made him lose his life. He tried to recall his memories, but it was no use. He couldn't remember a single thing.

"Can't you try to recall it one more time?" Fay asked.

Hayden nodded and after that, he tried to do it again. At first, nothing appeared, but after that he finally started to recall something—a memory which was quite clear yet vague.

-----

He saw himself deep inside a forest, running from someone's pursuit.

"Where are you going? Hayden." A man's voice resounded from behind. His voice was deep and hoarse, making anyone who heard it shiver in anxiety.

"I didn't do anything. Why do you keep following me?" Hayden shouted. He felt desperate as he ran away while trying to avoid all of their relentless Arte attack.

"We don't need your presence in our grand plan. HAHAHA," laughed one of the gloomy guy comrades in joy.

"Fuck, what plan? I don't understand what they're talking about." Hayden cursed silently as he was running away from their pursuit.

Sound of explosions could be heard from afar. It kept resounding as Hayden tried to avoid all of their merciless attacks. These people were attacking him with their Arte mercilessly, making him feel exhausted and starting to feel tired.

The gloomy guy noticed this and then smirked evilly. He quickly materialized his darkness Arte into a bow and aimed it towards Hayden's feet.

"Stakkk…" Sounds of a breaking bone could be heard from the distance.

"Arrgh…" Hayden roared in pain. He could feel the lingering pain in his right feet. It was really hurt like hell. However, he gritted his teeth and tried to endure it as he kept running away for his life.

"Do you think you can run away from us after getting that injury?" The gloomy laughed while telling their companion to encircle their prey.

His comrades understood his intention and quickly cast wind Arte to their body, making their movement slightly faster than before. Shortly afterward they arrived and started to encircle Hayden from three different directions.

"This is bad." Hayden murmured as he watched them blocking his way.

Looking at Hayden's expression, the gloomy guy comrades started laughing together. Afterward, they raised their hand and began chanting an incantation of a combination skill towards Hayden.

Arte!

There exist an imaginary world inside the corporeal world

An inner place where true nature being kept

The birthing mother of liberty, with a flash and flicker of dripping tears

Endless yearning, wanting to be freed

And yet all things must flow, back into the origin

-----

"Cage of Binary Stars!" The three men shouted.

Shadow of the stars started condensing around Hayden's surroundings. It slowly enveloped him and materialized into an imaginary cage of stars.

Hayden felt desperate as he watched the cage trapped him. He tried to activate his darkness Arte several times, but it was no use. This thing had restricted all of his Arte's power.

"You can't escape." The gloomy guy laughed from afar, not long after he appeared in front of Hayden and walked slowly towards him.

"Who are you? At least tell me before I die." Hayden asked while gritting his teeth.

"Silence! Kneel before me." Shouted the gloomy guy as he manipulated the gravity inside of the cage.

Shortly afterward, the gravity started to thicken and it made Hayden who was trapped inside, fall into his knees.

"Arrgh..." Hayden struggled. He would never kowtow to anyone besides his parents and teacher.

Time passed and Hayden couldn't hold it out anymore. He roared in agony as he forced himself to flip backward. After some attempts, it was successful and finally, his position changed into lying down on the ground.

Hayden felt relieved. However, his sight was a bit blurry right now because his head hit the ground hard before.

The gloomy guy flew into a rage. He roared and made the gravity grow heavier.

Sounds of cracking bone could be heard from Hayden's body and the gloomy guy enjoyed this scene thoroughly. For him, screams of pain like this were pleasurable.

"Mark my word! I'll hunt you, even after my death." Hayden cursed in agony.

As Hayden was going to pass out, he tried to struggle and condensed all of his remaining power into a single shot. He wanted to at least bring this guy down with him.

"Shadow Dart."

A shadow dart started to condense above Hayden's head and moved at the speed of light towards the gloomy guy. It penetrated the cage and went straight towards the guy's right hand.

"Slashh…" The dart missed. However, it tore some part of the gloomy guy's clothes, making his right hand looked visible.

Hayden was startled as he looked at the gloomy guy's right hand. There was a big snake tattoo drawn on his arm. The snake stood aloof while opening its mouth, baring all of its sharp teeth towards all of the people who glanced at it.

"You are… Devil's incarnation. Kh-," Hayden wanted to continue. However, his sight went blurry and he passed out afterward.