Absence of light or food?

William brought a knife in his hand out of thin air. He positioned himself and slashed towards Ozul.

*Swish*

It cut Ozul's left leg like butter. However, the shocking thing was that there was no blood involved. The leg was just separated.

The three men were stunned at that sight but regained their cool as they expected something like this from a Devil's Spawn.

Following that, he did the same thing to Ozul's hands.

Here they were, brutally crippling a baby. Unfortunately, there was no one to witness this cruel sight.

After the process, Physician Sleever took out three glass boxes with some kind of runes on their sides. He did some mysterious chant, and the severed limbs flew into the glass boxes. After this, he closed the lids and put the boxes away.

" What do we do with It, "asked Edward while not being bothered by the scene at all. He wanted to exterminate this abomination as soon as possible. However, he was a greedy guy. What he wanted more than anything was profits.

"Seal the warehouse and lock this thing here. We may find something unexpected in it. Kehehe~" Physician Sleever replied with a greedy look in his eyes,

His excitement was visible in his tone, ignorant of what this decision may cost him in the future.

Edward Abilon was afraid of what 'It' may cause if left alone. But he did not secure his position as one of the 4 Dukes while being fearful of every other potential risk. He knew that only with risks came the real gains.

Besides, he had already found out that the Devil's Spawn was harmless as yet. He completely tossed out the thought that this child was his son. Greed truly made men blind.

The three men then left the warehouse leaving the pitiful child alone in the darkness.

———————————

Ozul was in pain. He was suffering. But even that could not make him scream or cry for help.

His face was scrunched up but he never shouted or cried.

Although no blood dripped out of his severed limbs, it still hurt like hell.

Furthermore, after his limbs were taken away from him like objects, he felt like a part of him was just lost. His already void self once again split into pieces. He could care less about being a cripple. But he wanted his self back.

The agony he felt from losing his self was unbearable to him! A part of him was stolen; He wanted it back!

However, he was left alone in the old familiar darkness.

At least the darkness provided him with some comfort.

From the moment he was born, No from the moment he gained consciousness. It was only when Ozul was in this state did he find real solace. But after his birth, he kept losing himself more and more.

Ozul was a newborn baby; only a week had passed since his birth.

But the number of difficulties he had faced as of yet surpassed even those of adults. Even a grown man might have gone crazy after such traumas, but Ozul was still sane, only a little sad.

Ozul had already decided to take back what was rightfully his. He wants to snuggle in the embrace of the darkness while being complete. Only that may bring him serenity.

Time started passing, but no one ever bothered him.

Every day, a fraction of the dark energy surrounding him was absorbed by what was left of his tiny body.

He was so bored that he even tried to inspect himself, his powers, or how he was different. But he had no results. All he knew was what he desired. But his desires could not be met as of yet.

He once thought of trying just to leave the place but refrained from doing so.

There were three reasons for this; 1st was that he used some brain and figured out that those people won't just leave the warehouse unprotected. They considered him a demon, after all. So, he had slim chances of being able to escape.

2nd reason was that he only had one leg for god's sake! Just how much would he have to roll his body even to reach the exit?

3rd? Well, it was simple. He was too lazy even to try.

Yes, why would he start struggling when he could just lay on the table peacefully?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So the time flew.

Days changed into weeks.

Weeks turned into months.

And months, into Years!

Just like that, five whole years went by like clouds.

Ozul was five years old now.

All those years, but no one checked on him. It was like they were avoiding him now. Like they were afraid to even come near the warehouse that they sealed him in. They could deal with him when he was a newborn baby, but no one knew his capabilities now. They would rather not risk it.

Things were all the same, but Ozul had grown up.

. . .

In an abandoned warehouse surrounded by trees, you could only see black everywhere.

But with a bit of focus, you would see a strange kid around the age of five to six years. Odd because the kid only had one right leg. No left leg, no arms, and no clothes.

He was just lying there on his back, closed eyes, and facing up.

He was Ozul Ashfall. The Devil's Spawn was not listed in any document of the Silverbird Kingdom.

Ozul suddenly opened his jade black eyes.

'The last amount of it is finally absorbed,' Ozul thought when the last wisp of the black smoke surrounding him got absorbed into his body.

Ozul, in all those years, only moved around when he felt tired. He would just sit up and stay like that until he felt tired again—he kept repeating the cycle over and over again.

He had also noted that the dark energy slowly kept decreasing over time. And today, his body consumed the last bit of it.

It worried him a little. Ozul believed that he could only survive until this day by consuming that energy.

But only a minute had passed, and he felt something.

'URGHH!' Ozul felt a jolt of pain seering through his mind. A few seconds passed, and he received some kind of knowledge. It felt like some sort of trick.

Curious as he was, he immediately tried it.

It was simple, He just willed it, and suddenly some kind of dense black smoke seeped out of him and formed a ball. With only a thought, he could change it to any shape.

Ozul felt it; he could also change its properties. Like changing it to a solid state.

Moreover, Ozul felt like this dense black smoke was just a part of him. Similar to his right leg.

With this thought, Ozul suddenly had an idea!

'Well, I can freely move about now,' thought Ozul with a poker face as he changed its shape into one of his legs and attached it to himself.

After five years of his birth, it was the first time Ozul stood up on his own! He took his first steps after five years worth of time.

People would think that it may be difficult to walk. But Ozul had no problem whatsoever as it felt just like moving a part of his body. Maybe he could move the black mass of energy even better than his body.

Anyways, he could walk now! The first thing he did after being able to walk? He laid back down on the table, removed the black mass into his body, and drifted into sleep.

He was used to it by now; for more or less 1,825 days, he could only pass his time by sleeping. Sleeping had become as natural to him as breathing.

After some hours, he woke up again. This time he was a bit hungry. But he was not worried because controlling that black mass was not the only thing he learned. Somehow if Ozul was in complete darkness, he could just eat it.

You heard it right; he could just absorb the absence of light. Sadly, the absorbed 'darkness' would just replenish his body. It wouldn't even increase the size of the black mass he could produce.

As of now, he could use it only as one of his limbs. If he knew how to increase its size, it would be much more convenient.

Ozul didn't put much thought into it. He never pondered on what he could or what he could not. He was just waiting for an opportunity to get out of there and get his 'parts' back.