prologue

To lift a finger is forbidden, even the thought of it makes me shudder. Everyone in the place feels the same; the fact that they are all staring at the ground with dead eyes proves it.

No sound even dares to exist, the air refuses to move, my sweat has long since turned to ice. Like me, he must be wishing to die, but even that we dare not do.

—Kneel.

One word, was all it took to make everyone, frozen from having known the meaning of fear, move.

BAMMM

It was the sound caused by thousands of people kneeling. It was a sound so loud, it would burst the eardrums of any being who had them. But no one complained, even the ground itself didn't dare to shake. I don't blame him, I wouldn't dare to either.

The most incredible thing of all is that, even though everyone knew he existed, absolutely no one knew the identity of the person in front of them. They didn't even know his face. No one knew how, but this person made the world his property from the shadows.

But even when it seemed that the world itself bowed to the presence of this being, there was someone who did not.

While it may seem like an act of bravery, it was only an act of pure stupidity, more so considering the fact that this person was just as afraid as everyone else. How do I know this? It's because that person was me, of course, and the reason couldn't be more stupid.

I do not want to kneel.

I knew I would die, there was no such thing as death when something did not go according to the will of this being. But the same part of me that refused to kneel had another last wish.

Raise... the look.

If I was going to die, I would do it with my head held high. But when even just standing upright exhausts my soul, raising my head was out of the question.

TAC... TAC... TAC... -slowly coming towards me.

My heart, as if coming back to life, began to beat so hard that I felt it would burst out of my chest. I felt fear envelop me with every step. It was as if death was taking his scythe and bringing it closer and closer to my neck.

By the time I could see his feet, my mind could no longer think and my lungs could no longer breathe. All I could do was wait for his judgment.

Maybe it was because there was nothing left of my soul, but the part of me that refused to kneel made me raise my head at the last moment. i knew my executioner was here. but what i didn't know was that what i would see would make even death shiver.

The person in front of me...was me.