His fingers didn't just claw at the earth; they tore through roots and stone, his nails snapping as they transformed into something darker and harder. Behind him, the Sentinels Hiraya had tossed aside began to stir. One soldier pushed himself up, his helmet lopsided and his vision blurred. He blinked, trying to make sense of the nightmare unfolding before him.
“Captain…?” he croaked. Another staggered forward, his hand reaching out in a desperate plea. “CAPTAIN!”
Neyoundo’s response was a sound that shattered the silence of the forest. It wasn't a human scream. It was a cacophony—two voices layered over each other. One was the drowning shriek of a man; the other was an ancient, starving howl that seemed to rise from the very bowels of the earth.
Crack. Snap. His spine twisted at impossible angles, the sound of breaking bone echoing like dry wood snapping in a fire. His jaw distended, the skin stretching until it tore at the corners to reveal teeth that lengthened into curved, ivory blades. Pitch-black fur, coarse as night-weeds, erupted from his pores and shredded the fine silk beneath his armor.
Hiraya stumbled back, her boots catching on a gnarled root. The air felt heavy, oily, and thick with the scent of musk and old blood. The transformation ended with a final, wet thud. Captain Neyoundo Duquel was gone.
In his place crouched a Black Hound Aswang the size of a carriage. Its muscles were cords of twisted obsidian, pulsing with the same rhythmic, crimson light as the runes. Its fangs weren't just teeth; they were jagged kampilans forged from bone and hate.
“C-Captain…?” the first Sentinel whispered, his sword trembling.
The beast turned its head slowly. Its eyes were two pools of infinite, oily blackness. For a heartbeat, there was a flicker of human recognition. Then, there was only hunger.
The monster moved. It didn't run; it blurred.
The first Sentinel didn't even have time to scream before claws as long as daggers tore through his chest, splitting steel and bone like wet paper. Blood didn't just spray; it painted the emerald leaves in a hot, metallic red. The second soldier turned to flee, but the hound covered the distance in two thunderous strides. Fangs closed around his shoulder—a sickening crunch echoed through the trees, followed by a spray of crimson that silenced his final cry.
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One by one, the warriors of Hera fell. They were the King’s finest, but they were fighting a predator that knew their training, their fear, and their every weakness. As the last soldier collapsed, something strange happened: the shadows beneath the corpses began to ripple. They peeled away from the dead meat like wet ink and vanished into the earth, leaving the bodies pale and hollow.
The Black Hound lifted its snout, blood dripping from its bone-blades like rotting fruit. Its black eyes locked onto Hiraya. Her heart lunged against her ribs as she threw herself beside Sugat’s motionless body, her hands slick with his blood.
“Sugat…! Wake up!”
A blur of black fur shot through the trees. “Damn you!” the creature snarled. The voice was warped, vibrating with a bestial growl, but the arrogance was still Neyoundo’s. “You made me show them! You revealed the rot!”
“Stay back!” Hiraya screamed. A violet barrier flared into existence, but the hound’s claws slammed into the shield with the force of a falling mountain. The impact exploded like a thunderclap, leveling the surrounding bushes and throwing Hiraya backward. Her ribs barked in pain as she hit the dirt, the world spinning in shades of grey and purple.
“If I had known his blood carried this poison…” Neyoundo growled, his voice thick with a new, dark hunger, “I would have carved his heart out years ago.”
His blood? Hiraya’s mind raced, but she had no time to process the thought. The hound lunged again, its jaws unhinging as a long, whip-like tongue shot forward to strike her barrier. Hiraya glanced at Sugat. He lay still, but a faint, rhythmic glow was beginning to pulse around his wounds—soft, like a dying ember trying to catch the wind.
She dashed sideways, trying to lure the beast away. “Over here, you monster!”
The hound chased, its heavy paws thumping against the earth. Fast. Too fast. Hiraya raised her hand, her voice desperate. “Book! I need the Book!”
Nothing. The air remained empty. No violet smoke. No leather-bound grimoire. Her mana—the lifeblood of her magic—was gone. The Silencing Veil and the shockwaves had drained her dry.
“Why now…?” she whispered as her legs gave out.
The hound reached her in a single bound. Claws flashed in the moonlight. Pain exploded across Hiraya’s shoulder, then her side, and she crashed into the dirt. Her vision faded as her own blood began to soak her robe. She tried to crawl, but her limbs felt like lead.
The monster ignored her now. Its prize was elsewhere. Slowly, Neyoundo walked back toward Sugat, each step a deliberate, heavy thud. He circled the boy’s body like a wolf studying a fallen lamb.
“At first…” he muttered, his bone-teeth clinking together, “I thought the witch was the prize.” His lips curled into a horrific, toothy grin. “But I was wrong. The shadowless boy… he is the key to everything.”
Hiraya watched through a haze of pain, unable to do more than offer a wet, rattling cough. The hound raised a massive, armored claw. The bone-blade caught the moonlight, shining with a cold, predatory light, and plunged downward.
Schlick.
The blade buried itself deep in Sugat’s chest. The faint glow around the boy flickered, sputtered… and vanished into the dark.
Hiraya’s world shattered. “No…”
The forest fell into a suffocating silence. Even the wind stopped. Neyoundo threw his head back and laughed—a deep, jagged sound of pure satisfaction. “Ahh…” he breathed. “Perfect.”
His shadow stretched across the clearing, a long, twisted monster that seemed to swallow the earth. The night grew still. Too still. But deep within the shadows of the trees, something was watching. The forest held its breath, waiting for the echo of a heartbeat that was no longer there.
Author's Note:
Did... did that just happen?
Lanterns of Deceit, no one is safe—not even the Shadowless.
Black Hound Aswang. In our legends, the Aswang is a shape-shifting predator, and I wanted to show that even those in high positions of power can be monsters beneath their polished armor.
If you're screaming at your screen right now:
Follow the story! The "Mass Release" continues, and I promise the next chapter will answer (or create) biscerally even more questions.
Ratings & Reviews – If you liked the "Dark Fantasy" shift in this chapter, please leave a rating. It helps a lot with the Royal Road algorithm!
Something is watching from the dark. See you in Chapter 8.
Aswang – A terrifying, shape-shifting creature from Philippine folklore. They are known to transform into large black dogs, pigs, or birds to hunt humans at night.