Chapter 20: Garmosh's Past — The Curse of Origin

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  Scene 1: After the Battle

  Location: The Ruins of the Flame Palace.

  The sky is gray, and the air is heavy.

  The knights stand amid the rubble, catching their breath — but suddenly, a black vortex of energy bursts from the ground. A fragmented, tormented image appears… like a tortured memory.

  Kain (focusing with his gray eyes):

  “What is this? Visions…?”

  Lorena (whispering):

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  “It’s Garmosh’s past… opening before us.”

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  Scene 2: Years Ago — The Holy Kingdom of Aura

  Garmosh appears as a young man — his face pure, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

  He was a magical scholar in the royal court, a genius of arcane engineering, devoted to justice.

  One day, a strange man visited him...

  Zoruk — His black hair darker than the void, eyes like cracks in time, his voice calm… but deadly.

  Zoruk (with a quiet menace):

  “Garmosh… you're bound by the laws of a dying world.

  Let me show you a power… that bends reality itself.”

  He revealed a strange stone, pulsing with twisted energy.

  Garmosh (hesitant):

  “This… isn’t magic. It’s something older… a curse wrapped in existence.”

  Zoruk:

  “I call it… the Essence of Unbinding.

  It’s not a curse… but freedom from a false system.”

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  Scene 3: The Collapse

  Driven by his desire to protect humanity, Garmosh used the “Essence of Unbinding” to alter reality and save a town from a deadly plague…

  But as soon as he did, the town turned into a cursed wasteland — its people twisted into monstrous abominations.

  Garmosh screams, falling to his knees.

  Cursed markings begin crawling over his skin…

  Gradually, he loses his humanity.

  Zoruk appears again, smiling.

  Zoruk:

  “Reality isn’t just, Garmosh… I merely gave you the truth.”

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  Scene 4: The Memory Ends

  The black vortex closes.

  The knights look at each other in silence.

  Raiger:

  “So… Garmosh was a victim.”

  Hanto (calmly):

  “And the real culprit… is Zoruk.”

  Hakora (with icy eyes):

  “Master of Unbinding… Master of the Curse… Master of Change.”

  Kain (from the shadows):

  “The most dangerous part of our journey… has just begun.”