MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin



The moment the electrical appliances died out, the mansion was entirely bathed in the eerie embrace of a chilling darkness. Nothing but the light of the softly illuminating moon shined slightly in the light sky and gave some feeble lighting to the occupants of the mansion.

While hunters from powerful families received training to fight in the absolute grasp of uncertain darkness, this was not the case for more independent and weaker hunters who received no particular support for their growth and had to depend only on themselves for everything.

Standing in front of the door, with their guns and heavy weapons grasped tightly in their hands, the three guards gulped audibly as they watched the swaying figure shrouded in a dark cloak in front of them.

The figure's face was covered by a completely blank white mask with not even the slightest features that could be seen by the naked eye and an aura of dread and mystery filled up his surrounding.

Seeing him like that, all of them felt as if they were facing some faceless monster slowly approaching them as the swaying silhouette slowly advanced toward them.

Their hands trembled as an aura of indescribable fear overtook their mind and seemingly wanted to even freeze their heart with dread.

Gulp~

"Fuck this shit! Just die!"

One of the guards could not take the growing aura of dread that was engulfing them anymore and pointed his rifle at the gradually approaching figure and blasted him with a rain of bullets.

"Fuck."

The other two stopped hesitating as well and immediately started firing away with gusto, as if not willing to fall behind the guy who started first in enthusiasm. They poured everything they had into the target, wishing for the annihilation of the dreadful figure.

"Die! Die! Die! Fucking die!"

Bang~! Bang~! Bang~! Bang~!

The sounds of the bullets being fired like there was no tomorrow filled the silent halls of the mansion, and the small light from the weapon showed that the bullets were definitely reaching the target. But while there was hope for their victory they also knew it was slim.

There was a deep gut-wrenching feeling of fear even as they fired every piece of weaponry in their arsenal. But they remembered that even Silver hunters were not completely unfazed by the destruction bullets can cause them. So, they still believed that there was a chance for them to survive.

The seemingly neverending volley of firing lasted for a few seconds without showing any signs of stopping. But, soon the rate started to decrease and at one point it stopped, the guards having poured in everything they had on them. However, as the firing stopped and the dust and debris settled, only a sense of pure despair clouded their faces.

"....How?"

One of them asked feebly even as the rifle fell from his hand. But they received no answer. What greeted their eyes was a sight they could not believe. Stray bullets aside, all the artillery they had launched at the approaching figure's body stopped a few inches short before reaching his body and hovered gently in the air.

"Ah…"

The legs of one of the guards trembled and he fell backward as they watched all the hovering bullets slowly turn and point toward them.

"Run!"

They tried to escape… But it was too late for them already.

All it took was a snap of the intruder's fingers and all the bullets were hurled back at them at almost twice the speed. They could not run out of the trajectory of the objects that reached towards them at supersonic speeds and in the end, only the agonizing and despair-induced screams of the men could be heard in the silent hallway as dozens of holes covered the entirety of their bodies and reaped the life out of them.

Seemingly endless streams of blood flowed out of their bodies that had been deprived of the life they once contained and then as if the strings holding them had been severed, the lifeless bodies fell down powerlessly to the ground.

What those three could not know was that… They were the luckiest out of all those in the house.

Lucky to have been granted the swift and painless embrace of death.

———

What was a haunted house?

For most people, it was just an attraction in which underpaid people worked with shitty costumes and equipment to scare the living shit out of some people. Then there were the abandoned houses— houses that had essentially been abandoned for so long due to some unfortunate reasons that rumors began to circulate of it being haunted by some paranormal entity.

Right now, the mansion of Big Eric was a horror house in the truest sense of the word.

For the guards and the gang members in the mansion, this was supposed to be a day like any other.

Even when some madman sent that flimsy ultimatum, they did not feel fear and only scoffed at the ridiculousness of the words he managed to blurt out like that.

Now though… Fear was all they could feel as they kept running.

Huff~ Huff~ Huff~

Hiding in a corner behind the table in one of the kitchens, one of the higher cadres of Eric's gang was busy looking all around him to ensure that he was not being followed by someone or some horror-inducing entity.

"Hello! Is there someone here?"

A cutesy voice, one akin to that of a child sounded in his ears followed by the slow and light steps of the person in question.

His eyes widened in horror and he immediately covered his mouth while trying to get his breathing under control.

Despite how cute that voice was, he could not forget how this same person had murdered more than ten people earlier in the pool, dyeing the water metallic red with the blood of the people he murdered.

"Hello? Is there no one?"

The voice progressively grew further and further away from him and inwardly he could feel his taunt nerves relax. He had survived, he had managed to hide himself successfully from that walking and breathing disaster.

Now all he had to do was…

"Surprise~!"

All the hair on his body seemed to stand up on end as fear overwhelmed his body. A flashlight shone next to him and showed the mechanical face of a doll with chubby cheeks.

He had no time to scream as the knife of the doll stabbed him through the eyes, robbing him of his life.

———