He swung his arm at the guard who was sitting with his back towards him, shoulders hunched down. Just as his fist was a few inches away from the red haired guard, a small skewer stabbed into the man's throat, burning flesh on contact. 

The guard stayed seated nonchalantly, his hand extended backwards as the heretic man choked, blood gurgling from his mouth. The man gasped as the guard twisted the skewer into his throat before slashing it to the side, severing half of his neck as the heretic fell to the ground. 

Cracking his neck, he flipped the skewer before reaching out for the piece of meat on the plate closest to him. 

"Oye, Dax, it's still got the pig's blood on it." The guard with brown hair commented. His face twisted into a grimace and then pure disgust as Dax took his forked tongue out, slithering like a snake as he licked the skewer. 

"It's the best." He grinned, his voice gravelly. 

The guard's forked tongue slithered over the skewer like a snake tasting its prey, savoring the last remnants of blood. The scent of copper and burnt flesh lingered in the air. His lips curled upward as the red stain spread over his teeth.

Dax took another bite of meat, his grin widening. He chewed slowly, savoring each piece as if it were a rare delicacy, the blood dripping from his chin and staining the front of his tattered shirt. "Another one down," he muttered, his eyes gleaming with a twisted satisfaction as he looked at the lifeless body of the man.

Lucian looked away, his stomach churning, though not from hunger. No, it was the cruelty—the complete disregard for life—that turned his insides to ash. He'd read Ashes of Eternity for its graphic descriptions, but never had he imagined this reality, this grimness. And despite not giving a solitary, flying fuck about the man's life, seeing a man die in front of him in such a way was too much for the boy. 

The rest of the evening and the night went by in silence. 

By dawn, the fire had dwindled to embers, and the remnants of the night's violence was already forgotten by the tired slaves as well as Lucian. Despite refusing to eat the stale bread out of his pride, his insides were killing him now. 

When on earth will that one mechanism kick in when the body starts eating fat and you stop feeling hungry?! Lucian's body felt exceptionally weak. Assuming this skinny fuck has anything left inside him.

The stillness was broken only by the faint sound of rustling as the guards gathered their things. While the sun was rising, the only change Lucian could observe was the transition of black darkness to grey-ish one. 

"Up! Get moving!" The bellow cut through the fog of sleep, dragging everyone from their slumber, his command leaving no room for resistance.

Lucian rose. His muscles were stiff and aching. He stumbled, feet dragging across the cold ground. The others did the same, faces ashen, movements sluggish. There was no time for rest; survival demanded action. 

They shuffled into a ragged line, eyes low, minds fogged by the weight of hunger and fear.

They crossed a narrow ravine, the jagged stones beneath their bare feet sharp. 

Man…even though my boots are still somewhat alright, these stones hurt as sin…

He looked back, the small congregation of slaves leaving a trail of red in silence behind them. 

After around 1 hour of walking early in the morning, a completely new world opened on the other side of the ravine. 

The hell is that…

However, what caught Lucian's attention was one solitary structure. In the near distance, looming against the pale morning sky was a broken structure—ruins that twisted toward the skies like the clawed fingers of God himself.

"Finally, we've arrived at the temple!" One of them exclaimed. 

Dax wrapped his arm around the brown haired guard. "This took forever, didn't it?" 

"Sure did." 

The two of them hugged and looked back. "Oye, you two." He called out to the two guards walking at the far end of the small caravan of slaves. "Herd them inside." 

Herd… Lucian's expressions darkened. The nausea from last night hit the back of his throat again. This really is a cruel world…but if so–then I have to kill. I need to kill….they're not humans…I need to kill them. 

Lucian looked back at the giant structure. It was a temple, far grander than anything Lucian had ever seen in his life. Though time and destruction had ravaged it, there was an undeniable royalty that this place exuded. 

The marble pillars, though cracked and crumbling, still held a semblance of their former majesty. The walls were covered in blackened soot and stains of decay.

As they reached the front door, he saw the sign on it which made a chill run down his spine. 

An unlit torch. 

This can't be…why is it here…? Why am I here…?

Cold sweat broke on his face. Why am I in the Nashak Temple…??!

Nashka Temple. While never directly shown in Ashes of Eternity, it was mentioned many times. And despite just seeing the design of the insignia hanging from it, Lucian recognised it directly. After all, it was a part of every cover design for Ashes of Eternity's volume, and had been mentioned as the birthplace of the strongest hero in humans' history. 

When Towers of Babylon started to sprout, there was one man who went inside the divine gates and came back so strong, that the floors of Babylon that he cleared in his first year still amount more than what has been cleared by humanity all together in the past 50 years. 

However, he died soon after, consumed by the flames of his own power. 

The Unlit Flame.

He explained the place to be a resting place for those who worshipped both creation and destruction, a god whose existence was as paradoxical as it was terrifying. Lucian could almost feel the pulse of the place, a rhythm that echoed in his bones, making his knees go weak.

"We are going in right now." Reyn–the brown haired man said—as he looked back at Lucian and the other slaves. "You find even a rock, you bring it back."His gaze swept over everyone as suddenly he stabbed a man in his heart. "If you don't, worse will happen to you. Death will be mercy. Got it?" 

Instead of a reply, everyone just emptily shook their heads. Lucian pressed his lips together, frowning. I have to kill at least those two.

"Dax and I will stay in the main hall, everyone else, take an equal amount of sheep with you and disperse." He barked orders, calling the slaves as sheeps as he walked over into the crowd. Grabbing a young girl by her wrist, he pulled her. "You're with us." He looked back at Dax with a predatory smile. 

These bastards….

As the guard with purple-green hair started to push Lucian inside the temple, he looked back, seeing the girl being dragged by the two monsters. Unlike the other ones, she was struggling, which made Lucian's heart skip a beat, rage and helplessness filling him like water inside a broken hull. 

The guard kicked Lucian's butt as he was pushed inside the temple. 

"Start sniffing, sheep." The guard grinned. 

GRAAAARRRKKK!

A loud roar shook the air as Dax drew a dagger and flipped it in his hand, looking around. Reyn was nowhere to be seen and so was the girl. 

Suddenly, a look of realisation flashed on Dax's face. 

"Fuck!" He exclaimed. 

Lightning crackled in the distance as he looked at the temple and then at the ravine from where they came. 

"A monster sniffed the blood coming from those fuckers' feet! Everyone! Throw the old ones out!" He barked orders as he started to run towards the door. 

"Sir Dax, we need to inform Sir Reyn…" the guard spoke with a panicstricken face. "...he'll die if that creature comes…" 

Dax clicked his tongue. "At least he'll die while enjoying that fresh meat…shut up and do as I say unless you want to be fed that thing as well!" 

The guard could only nod as clamouring noises started to fill the air. The older ones who had dived here were thrown out mercilessly. For the first time, they showed some life, struggling to stay inside and not be thrown to whatever monstrosity was out there, but it was futile. The lack of energy in their limbs from hunger did little to battle them and in a matter of few seconds, the huge "herd" was reduced to 5 people. 

Lucian was sitting in the corner, hyperventilating as he stared at the door that closed and guards started to put various things in front of the door to stop the creature from coming in. 

It's futile…it's no use…they have no idea…

For the first time, instead of excitement, Lucian felt pure dread. It's a Thunderjaw Tiger…we are so cooked!