Chapter 1 - First Encounter, Retribution of the Time Binder

A young man is sitting under the tree near the beach, leaning on it as he seems to be asleep. Enjoying the shade and the sea breeze gently on his skin.

*Ding*

*Ding*

*Ding*

Moments later, rings of a bell can be heard which indicates the time. Specifically, time for work again, and also, the end of lunch break.

The young man was named Red, or as the orphanage director called him which he adapted as time passed by. As his name suggests, Red has fine scarlet hair which seemed to be finely dyed, and seemingly crimson eyes but if you do not carefully look you may miss it.

He was raised in an orphanage ever since he was a baby. He only had the orphanage director as his guardian when he was young, but later on the orphanage he was in was demolished and destroyed as it was attacked by an incurable disease. Though the disease is terrifying it only attacks the young ones, and despite that, the director's life ended along with the destruction of the orphanage as the director is condemned and accused that he poisoned the kids to own the donations of the people to the orphanage.

Even though many believed the director that way, Red does not think so. As he was also infected but he survived, somehow. And it is not poison or so as he believes. He is the only one that has survived. As for how he managed to survive, he just believes it was a miracle.

In truth, he was thankful to the director and he knows that he is extremely kind and has no room in his heart for violence and greed.

Red walks back to his work not far from the beach he was on.

Not far from him he heard a voice calling him. It was his friend Ienze. The only friend he got.

Unlike him, Ienze is not an orphan. He lives with his family in the town they are currently in. Though not rich, they live a comfortable life. Ienze's parents pitied him and sometimes they even fed him. They even offered him to live with them but he refused. Though they insisted, in the end, there is nothing they can do. They begrudgingly stopped and just offered Red a job on the port near the beach. Though Ienze's parents are not the owner, they are next to the owner as they are the ones that manage it.

As for Ienze, he is a brother to Red.

Ienze walks to Red and talks to him.

"Hey Red, where are you just now?" asked Ienze. "Don't tell me you now have a girlfriend"

"Aiyo, you already have a girlfriend but you did not even mention it to me. My heart is pierced man, are you really my friend???" Said Ienze jokingly with an aggrieved expression.

"Eh? You think so?" Replied Red, "I wish man, but I've got no time, I need money"

"If I would get a girlfriend, my girlfriend needs to be filthy rich, she must treat me like a king because if not she won't deserve me" Red added shamelessly, "in addition she must serve me every night."

*Pak*

As Ienze cannot take the shamelessness of Red, he hit him on the forehead.

"Damn shameless!"

Red works as a laborer. He carries goods from ship to ship or from ship to the warehouse or vice versa. While Ienze works as a checker.

As they walk back to the port, Red has an eerie feeling. He felt restless but he doesn't know why.

'Don't go,' Red heard a voice in his head.

"Did you hear someone?" Red asked.

Ienze looked at him weirdly and said, "Don't freak me out man, the sun's up do you think you can scare me?"

Red knows that Ienze is very timid but he did not mean to scare him.

"Never mind"

As they arrive at the transport. Red once again heard the voice in his head.

'Don't go. Leave now.'

This time the voice is louder. It's like it's warning him.

Red looked around but saw no one.

He kept walking, then oddly he could see that there was no one in the port.

The port was so silent that if a needle were to be dropped it could be heard.

As they arrived at the port they can see corpses. The scene is very disgusting and cruel. Some of the corpses have missing body parts and some of the body parts are scattered everywhere. Some are still moving but was gravely injured that may cause death at any moment.

The port has become akin to a battlefield, only it is a battlefield where a weapon is not allowed and one can only fight barehanded.

Amidst the corpses lying in the ground, there is an eerie shadow-like demon with dark glowing eyes.

Its eyes are so deep and dark that if you fall into it you might be lost and will be unable to return forever.

Red felt chills on his back as he heard the voice saying 'Shade Binder'. The voice is filled with hatred, as it seems like it met its mortal enemy.

Then suddenly Ienze punched Red in the face.

Red was confused, why would his brother punch him all of sudden.

'He is controlled, run' the voice spoke once again.

As he looks seriously at his brother, he can see that the look in his eyes is different from before. It is no longer that of a human, but of a beast, instead. At the same time, it has deep and dark eyes. At this point, Red understood what the voice meant. He understood that Ienze must be controlled by the shadow-like demon.

Beyond the knowledge of Red, the shadow-like demon is a shadow clone of the Shade Binder that the voice had mentioned.

All of sudden the sun shines more intensely than normal. At the moment, its rays are like swords that pierce through the body of the shadow clone and the head of his dear friend Ienze.

His head explodes like a melon. The brain tissues are scattered on the ground.

For the first time in a while, Red felt despair. His heart tightened, his vision became blurry as tears fell from his eyes.

Sorrow is engraved deep in his heart. The one and only friend he got died in front of him in a manner that he did not fully comprehend nor understand the reason.

Along with sorrow, he felt hatred and anger. Hatred to the sun that pierced the head of his friend. Hatred to the dead shadow clone that died along with him. Although he knows that it's not the sun's fault, he does not know who to blame.

He trembled in anger and hatred. He yelled with a hoarse voice as tears fell from his eyes like a river.

*hong*

Thunders roar along with him as if heaven felt his emotions.

"The heavens felt my hatred and sorrow," he thought to himself before he felt an excruciating pain on his head that came directly from his soul. The pain is not something ordinary. He can hear a ripping sound out of nowhere but he knows that it comes from his soul. It's like something is forcefully put in his soul then mending it again.

This happens only for a moment but it felt like a long time for Red.

Then a word came to him, 'retribution'. He did not know why he thought of that word. But the next thing he did surprised him even more.

"Retribution"

'Retribution'

He said the word aloud and he also heard the voice say it along with him.

Then suddenly, he felt his consciousness fading and becoming blurry. Then, moments later he fell unconscious.

As Red fell unconscious, in a brilliant palace atop a tall mountain, an old man that has an image of an amiable grandfather coughed blood with no reason and mumbled to himself, "Retribution of the Time Binder."

At the same time in a very, very deep crevice, where light fails to reach, a middle-aged man with good looks screamed in pain as he felt pain in his soul. He mumbled the same words as the old man, "Retribution of the Time Binder.".