Talen grabbed Daigo's hand from inside the car, his voice trembling."Be careful… there could be a White-Eye lurking around!"
Daigo chuckled softly, easing Talen's grip. "Don't worry. If something happens, just floor it and get yourself out of here," he said, smiling reassuringly as he slipped his hand free.
"What?!" Talen blurted, frustrated. His chest tightened as he added, "I know... I'm a coward, but I'm not the kind of bastard who'd ditch his friend in trouble!"
Daigo's smile grew warmer. "Fine. Just keep the engine running," he said as he stepped out into the night.
Talen looked down, clutching the steering wheel tightly. Deep down, even he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stay if things went wrong.
Daigo moved quickly, staying low. The broken fence groaned slightly in the breeze as he made his way to the house. He didn't dare knock — any noise could attract trouble. Instead, he slipped in through a half-open window.
The hall was eerily still. Nothing was overturned. No blood. No chaos.He exhaled, feeling a small wave of relief.
Cautiously, he stepped deeper inside. But just as he neared the corridor leading to the rooms —
A figure lunged from the shadows, swinging a bat!
Daigo barely ducked in time."Father!" he gasped.
The man halted mid-swing, his hands shaking."Daigo...?" his father's voice cracked, thick with disbelief. "Why are you here?"
"Where's Mom? Where's Selia?" Daigo demanded, glancing past him into the room.
He rushed inside — his mother sat curled on the floor, clutching Selia tightly in her arms.
"Daigo!" his mother cried out.
Selia, his tiny daughter, slipped free and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms."Papa, what's happening?" she whimpered.
Daigo knelt, holding her tightly.He looked to his mother, desperate for answers.
"The neighbors came earlier… told us to lock the doors, close the windows. They said something terrible was happening outside the village," his mother explained, her face pale.
"And the fence?" Daigo asked.
"Mr. Kaivor," his father said grimly. "He smashed through it in a panic with his truck. He was the one who brought the warning. After that, we kept silent… didn't dare even breathe too loud."
Daigo's mind raced.That explained it — the White-Eyes were drawn to sound, to movement. This house was safe only because it was silent.
"But… the sky? Didn't it crack?" Daigo asked hesitantly.
His mother shook her head."Nothing like that has happened here," she said.
Daigo frowned. Why?Was this place somehow protected? Or was the real disaster still coming?
Before he could piece it together, they heard footsteps crunching on broken glass outside the room.
Everyone froze.Daigo's heart thundered against his ribs.Grabbing the bat from his father's trembling hands, he crept toward the sound.
The figure stepped into the hallway, wild-eyed, glancing in every direction.
Daigo exhaled sharply."Talen!" he called out.
Talen flinched but grinned sheepishly when he recognized Daigo's voice.
Inside the room, Daigo's father finally lowered his weapon and said, "Who's there?"
"It's Talen," Daigo answered, relief flooding the air like a wave.
-------------------------------------
They sat together in the dimly lit hall, a small oil lamp casting trembling shadows across the floor.
Talen spoke quickly, his hands moving as he explained to Daigo's parents what was happening outside — how the world had fallen into chaos. Villages abandoned, strange monsters with white eyes stalking the streets, people screaming, scattering like leaves in a storm.
Meanwhile, Daigo was distracted, rummaging through an old cabinet in the corner.He was searching for something — something important.The Last Testament.
After a frantic few minutes of shifting books, old photo albums, and forgotten trinkets, his fingers finally brushed against a cracked leather cover. His heart skipped.
He pulled it free — The Last Testament by Riven Caelvane.
A heavy feeling of nostalgia settled over him.He remembered being a boy, sitting cross-legged on the floor, flipping through its pages over and over. There had been a map inside once — a hand-drawn map, a secret path to "Heaven," the safe place Riven had written about.
Daigo flipped through the brittle pages, urgency rising.But the map... the map was missing.
"Mom," he called, holding up the book, his voice strained, "where's the map that was inside this?"
His mother squinted at the worn cover, taking a second to recognize it."How should I know?" she said, puzzled. "You were the one keeping that thing. Always saying you'd go to Heaven when the world ended."
Talen, sitting nearby, let out a sharp laugh."Heaven?" he echoed mockingly.
He leaned forward, snatching the book from Daigo's hands."What is this? Some kind of kid's fantasy?"
Flipping through it carelessly, he added, "Don't tell me you believe this crap?"
Before he could turn another page, Daigo yanked the book back, his eyes flashing."Shut up!" he snapped.
Daigo went to his old room, the door creaking softly as he pushed it open. Dust floated through the air like tiny ghosts.In the corner, half-buried under a stack of forgotten clothes and cracked toys, was a worn wooden box.
Kneeling down, he opened it. The smell of old paper and timeworn plastic rose up. Inside were relics of his childhood: a rusted toy car, a slingshot, a cracked action figure.
Carefully, he dug through it all until his fingers brushed against a folded, yellowed piece of paper — the map.
His heart quickened.Unfolding it, he saw the familiar hand-drawn lines, the scrawled notes — the path Riven Caelvane had described toward Heaven.
And tucked underneath it, something else caught his eye — a photograph.
Daigo picked it up slowly.It was him and Relyn, back in their teenage years.Frozen in time, arms slung around each other, wild smiles on their faces.The time when they had been madly in love, when they still believed they could conquer the world together.
He remembered that day clearly — the day he'd shown her The Last Testament, heart pounding, unsure what she would say.He thought she'd laugh, call him childish for still believing in fairytales.
Instead, she had held the book gently, her eyes wide with wonder.
"Really... does that Heaven exist?" she had asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Daigo had scratched the back of his head awkwardly, cheeks burning."I don't know," he had admitted.
"But... don't you think it's childish, believing in this?" Daigo had asked, his voice low, almost embarrassed.
Relyn's emerald eyes met his, clear and steady."No," she said, shaking her head firmly.
Without hesitation, she swung their hands together, her fingers tightening around his.
"But if this place really exists," she added, her voice lifting with a bright, breathless hope,"then after we marry, we'll stay there — just the two of us. So no one can ever disturb us."
She smiled then, the kind of smile that could light up even the darkest fears.
In that moment, Daigo had believed with all his heart that such a Heaven might truly exist — if only because she believed in it too.