When darkness began to settle over the floating island, the castle at the distant peak became one of the few sources of light. Its towers glowed against the black sky like a beacon.

The bonfire crackled softly at the center of the cave. Most of the Evolvers had fallen asleep around it, their bodies curled on the stone floor. Whether it was physical exhaustion or the need to drown the sorrows of what they had remembered, Moon didn’t know.

He stood up from the ground and dusted himself off.

One of the few still awake, the brute, lifted his eyes from the fire.

"Boss, you going somewhere? Want me to come with you?" He began to rise.

Moon gestured for him to sit with his hand, shaking his head softly. "No need, it’s okay. Just rest for now, tomorrow will be a long day."

The brute hesitated before nodding his head, then settling back down.

Moon’s gaze moved to the other person still awake. Frey. Sitting against the far wall, knees drawn to his chest, eyes open and staring at nothing.

Of course he couldn’t sleep.

"Frey, follow me. I need to have a word with you."

The color drained from Frey’s face in an instant. His lips parted, then pressed together, then parted again. His eyes shrank to pinpoints as they met Moon’s calm, unreadable expression.

He wanted to refuse. Every part of his body wanted to refuse. But the runes on his chest pulsed faintly in the firelight, he had no chance to remove them, or better put, Moon never gave him a chance, he was always under surveillance.

"O-Okay."

He stood on unsteady legs and followed Moon toward the cave entrance. The brute watched them go, his brow furrowed, but he said nothing.

The two of them stepped out into the cold night air and the darkness swallowed them instantly. The wind continued to strike against their bodies, stronger at night than during the day.

Moon and Frey walked together in silence, until they were about a hundred meters away from the base.

Moon then activated his cleanse skill on Frey, and the man instantly felt it.

"What is this?" He muttered, staring at his hands, and body.

Moon’s shield appeared from the first try. The skill had worked instantly on the man.

Frey immediately clutched his head in pain as memories of everything began to re-surface in his mind. Since the very moment he met that beautiful lady.

He was bewitched by her looks, figure, and powers. She promised him immortality, she promised him a home, love. But it was all fake, she had only used him as a slave to do her bidding.

"This..." Tears began to flow from his eyes, covering his cheeks.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Each drop fell to the floor below, wetting the dirt beneath him. Moon remained silent as he watched the man go through all sorts of emotions.

Once Frey began to calm down, he raised his red, tear filled eyes from his palms and looked at Moon.

"Is this it?"

Moon ignored his question, asking one of his own, "Tell me Frey, how many people did you kill over the years? Controlled, or not."

Frey was taken back by the question, it almost came out of nowhere, "Many. Too many..."

"Do you remember them at all? Their faces? Their powers? Their names?"

Frey shook his head slowly, "I don’t remember anything about them...at all."

"Do you have a family back on earth? Frey?"

"No. I’ve been an orphan since young, never really got to know my parents, dead or alive."

"I see, tell me Frey, how would you like to die?" Moon turned towards the man.

Frey’s body shuddered, staring at Moon’s cold eyes. The words registered in his brain, and he lost control over his body in an instant.

The fear that crept up his chest was abysmal, Moon hadn’t even moved yet, but he could almost picture him move striking him like lightning in the sky would strike, fast, and thunderous.

"I-I don’t want to die...please spare me, I won’t tell anyone about your powers, I promise!"

"You know I can’t do that, don’t you?" Moon replied with a soft sigh as he began to walk towards the frozen man.

"Would you have allowed a person to escape, knowing a secret that not even the closest person to you knows?" Moon asked him curiously, although he knew the answer.

"I-I wouldn’t." Frey shook his head, his teeth gritting, and his hands clenching.

"Then? Why do you expect me do so?"

Frey’s knees could no longer hold him, they collapsed beneath him.

Thud!

His knees struck the dirt strongly, moving the little pebbles nearby.

He struck the floor with his fist, his bottled emotions bursting out. "Why...why is it always me...why am I always the loser!

Ever since I was a child, I was always the little guy that got beat up by the popular kid. Nobody liked me!"

"That’s just the way the world works." Moon replied, he could feel the emotions behind Frey’s words, and he himself had experienced some of that, to a certain degree.

"What would you know!

Someone like you, with your strength...with your power...who dares!"

Facing imminent death, Frey was no longer timid, and afraid. He lashed out at Moon, his eyes burning with hate.

"I’m going to be killed simply because that’s what you want?! That’s not fair!"

"The world was never about fairness Frey. It was about power, your strength determines whether you live or die. The weak does not choose the way they die..." Moon took a step forward, a sword forming in his hand, as he prepared to end the runesmith’s misery.

"B-But..."

"There was never a but when you killed people to get to this stage, was there?!"

Frey stood up frantically, attempting to take out a rune from his pouch. He had lost it completely, death was knocking his door, faster than he could think.

Before he could do anything, Moon activated his rune. "Did you forget that your body...is not yours?"

Frey lost control over his body instantly.

"When a hunter hunts...he must also bare the risk, of being hunted Frey." Moon carried his body with him and returned back to the area where the hideout was.

Moon called out the archer from the base alone.

"It’s time for him to go, don’t do too much. He is still dangerous, you have one shot, you can choose where you would like it to be." Moon said to the archer, pointing towards Frey’s body that remained controlled to this moment.

The archer nodded his head, "Thank you for allowing me to do that...I really appreciate it."

"No problem."

The archer took aim with his bow before shooting it, the arrow struck the heart of the runesmith who’s eyes widened in pain.

A grunt escaped his mouth, but he no longer screamed. He had accepted his fate when Moon had activated the runes.

BOOM!

Moon activated the runes on the man, and his body exploded.

"Was that you?" Moon nodded his head, just to make sure he is dead for sure.

The archer nodded his head, as they both began to walk towards the body that was burning.