Chapter 22. The Bright Eclipse

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Unknown Cave, Austrasia Empire

The forest air hung heavy with an eerie silence as Satria, Esdeath, and their group approached the cave’s entrance. Corpses of soldiers littered the ground, their lifeless forms grotesquely mangled. Severed limbs, torn torsos, and viscera spilled across the rocky terrain. The metallic tang of blood mixed with the rancid stench of decay, making the air almost unbearable.

Peter Parker, unaccustomed to such horrifying sights, clutched his stomach. His face turned pale before he doubled over, retching violently.

“Ugh!” Peter groaned, wiping his mouth as his body trembled.

“Hey, man, you okay?” a soldier asked, giving Peter a wary glance.

Another soldier, older and more grizzled, shook his head. “This guy’s new to this. You can tell he’s not a soldier.”

“If you can’t handle this, kid, turn back now,” the grizzled soldier added, his tone sharp. “Out here, a weak stomach can get you killed—or worse, us.”

Satria stepped forward, his expression soft with concern. “Peter, are you alright?”

Peter tried to steady himself but avoided looking at the carnage again. “I...I’m sorry, Shin. This is just...too much. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Fatalis’s voice resonated in Satria’s mind, calm but firm.

[Fatalis: This is normal for someone like him, partner. His world isn’t drenched in blood like yours]

“True,” Satria agreed internally. “If anything, I’m surprised he hasn’t fainted.”

As Satria steadied Peter with a reassuring hand, his mind drifted to a memory—a formative moment in his life that shaped who he was today.

Flashback

The trip began under the guise of a father-son bonding experience, but Satria quickly sensed this wasn’t an ordinary holiday. The terrain grew harsher as they ventured deeper into the isolated region, where city were dilapidated and devoid of hope.

“This place, brat,” his father had said as they approached their destination, “is where law and order mean nothing. There are no rules here, no justice—only power. I’m bringing you here not for fun, but for a lesson.”

The city they stopped at was bleak, a shadow of its former self. Buildings were barely standing, and the few residents moved like specters, their faces hollow from years of living under oppression. There were no smiles, no laughter, only the heavy weight of survival.  

“Why are we here, Old Man?” Satria asked, his voice tinged with unease.

“To show you the other side of the world,” his father replied, his tone firm. “The side no one talks about in textbooks. The side you’ll need to understand if you want to avoid making the wrong decisions in life.”

That night, Satria’s father led him to a small gathering of locals. They sat in the dim glow of a flickering oil lamp, discussing the region’s plight. It was a land where Unlawful ruled with absolute power, enforcing their will through fear and violence. Here, the laws of humanity were meaningless.

One residents, an elderly man with sunken eyes, explained the reality of their existence. “Here, a man with a weapon and money is a judge, jury, and executioner. Those without power are nothing more than dust.”

Satria listened, his stomach churning with a mix of anger and helplessness. He had never imagined such a place could exist, where human lives were treated as commodities, and justice was a distant dream.

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