The Frozen Tale of Ruin Awakens
"Gotta go talk to Blackie again today."
After befriending the black entity, Luna often slipped down to the basement to soothe her loneliness.
—Creak.
"No one's around, right...? Gotta be careful."
Luna cautiously slipped out of her room and headed to the basement, just like always.
"It's a bit far, but... Blackie must be waiting for me."
Then, a familiar voice drifted from the room at the end of the hall.
"D-Daddy...? Mommy...?"
Luna peeked through the door crack. Inside, her father and mother were gathered with the finance minister and many other retainers, deep in a meeting.
"We need more, more! Bring every treasure and gold in the kingdom!"
The king's voice was heated.
"Your Majesty... Taxes are already insufficient. The people are burdened enough. We can't afford more, even if we empty the treasury."
"We have to get more treasure somehow... Somehow...! By any means, bring more gold and jewels...! Or else—"
The king's tone turned utterly cold and greedy. It wasn't the warm voice he used for his daughter.
The young Luna couldn't fully grasp what the adults meant, but one thing was crystal clear.
"Mommy and Daddy's eyes... they're not warm anymore..."
Through the crack, her parents' faces looked so alien. They seemed lost in endless schemes and desires, like monsters consumed by greed despite their piles of treasure.
"N-No... I-I don't like this... Th-This isn't my mommy and daddy...!"
To the purest, most innocent girl, the adults' ugly greed was unbearable.
Luna couldn't stay there any longer.
—Pat pat pat!
The girl bolted to the basement, collapsing before the iron bars and bursting into tears.
"Sob...! Hic...! Blackie... M-My mommy and daddy are acting weird. They keep chasing treasure... They used to say I was enough... But now everyone's greedy..."
Why had it come to this? Where had those happy days gone? Her parents' smiles, once so close, now felt worlds away.
"...Daddy, Mommy... Come back to how you were..."
I don't need any treasure. I'm right here... Why won't you look at me...?
The girl clutched her chest, sobbing.
"It's... so cold here..."
But her hollow cry reached not her parents, but the ominous entity.
"Poor little princess. Why leave such a pretty Luna all alone...? I can't understand it. If it were me, I'd always stay by your side."
Glowing red eyes peered from the bars, fixing on Luna.
"Blackie... you'll stay with me forever... right...?"
"Of course. But... I'm trapped here, so I can't move freely. I want to be by your side right now... If only I could get out."
The sly serpent's tongue slithered into Luna's heart. A lonely princess, soothed by her secret black friend. Perfect timing.
"How can Blackie get out...?"
"Simple. Call my name, Luna. And let me into your heart. We already have our friendship token, right? Just those two things. If you do, I'll be with you forever, even if the world ends."
The entity's request reeked of malice—anyone would suspect it. Even Luna felt uneasy.
Is this okay...?
Young as she was, the girl wasn't foolish. She was Selenum's famed treasure, beautiful and brilliant.
But.
I'm... so lonely... I need a friend...
No matter how smart, Luna was still a child, craving love above all. To a princess lost in solitude for days, this was her only friend's plea.
Luna steeled herself, gazing at her chained friend.
"What's Blackie's name...?"
"Listen well, Luna. Your one true friend, who'll be with you forever—my name is Greed."
"Greed...?"
"Yes, Luna. With me, I can bring everything back to you—every treasure in the world, and your mommy and daddy's love."
"R-Really...?"
She didn't care about jewels. Just her parents' love—that was enough.
"Take my hand. From now on, we're inseparable. Like one body..."
"O-Okay..."
The moment the black entity's hand touched Luna, the girl fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
"S-Save me...!"
"This isn't the princess...! That's thing is imitating her!"
"Everyone, run!!"
"Kyaaaaah!!"
When Luna came to, the first sight was crimson-black energy devouring people.
"Wh-What...? Wh-What's happening...?"
Screams and shouts erupted everywhere as crimson-black flames engulfed the kingdom.
"Mommy, Daddy...? Blackie...? Where is everyone...?"
A viscous voice answered the girl's question.
"What's wrong, Luna? This is what you wanted. Why the sad face? Come on, smile."
"B-Blackie...?"
"That's right, your friend Blackie. So, how do I look?"
Greed still wore crimson-black energy, but now in a complete human form—a petite girl with silver hair and slightly murky golden eyes like Luna's. If Luna was the bright silver moon, Greed was the dark one.
"My appearance...?"
"Yes, Luna—your appearance. And now mine too."
Greed danced through the air, excited, like something wonderful had happened.
"B-Blackie... Wh-What happened while I was out...?"
"Oh, these soaring flames and crimson-black energies? Don't worry. Just granting your wish."
"My wish...?"
"From pebbles at your feet to grand stars and galaxies! I promised to bring anything you want. Look, Luna—the first two I 'collected'."
—Shooo.
The black moon extended a hand, hurling human-shaped forms to the ground. Selenum's lifeless king and queen—Luna's loving parents.
"Ah... Aaaah... Mommy...! Daddy...!"
"Luna, why? These are your mommy and daddy, what you wanted so badly. I made them yours personally—don't make that sad face."
Greed stepped back, flames at its back.
"They drowned in greed and ignored you. How could they shun such a pretty daughter...? I would never! I'll stay by your beautiful side forever, Luna."
With arms spread against the blazing palace, the black moon's desire-spewing form was chillingly viscous.
Then, a man appeared before Greed and Luna.
"Luna."
Black waves of hair. Eyes like the night sky. The savior, Lucifer.
"L-Lucifer...! Mommy and Daddy... B-Because of me..."
"It's okay, Luna. It's not... your fault."
Squeeze.
Lucifer unhesitatingly embraced the sobbing girl on the ground.
"Hic...! Lucifer... D-Did I do this...? Did I... hurt everyone...?"
"No, Luna! Don't think that. It's not your fault... It's okay. Everything will be okay."
In his warm arms, Luna's breathing steadied as she calmed.
"Luna, just wait a bit. I'll save you from this ruin soon."
Lucifer stroked the princess reassuringly, then drew his sword and advanced on the black moon.
Crumbled walls, blood-soaked marble floors. Amid the chaos, his gaze never wavered.
"I figured imitating the princess wouldn't make you hesitate... but drawing your sword so readily? Makes me doubt if you even have a heart, Lucifer!"
"Greed, your schemes won't work on me. No matter what, you can't beat me."
"True, I can't beat you. But here's the problem? Sorry, but now you can't kill me either. Or rather... you can't kill Luna."
"What...?"
Lucifer's steps toward Greed halted at the princess's name.
"I've merged with Luna. Destroying me means ripping out and burning her emotions and memories entirely. Could you stay sane seeing her as a beautiful, feelingless doll?"
"You've taken Luna... hostage?"
"Hostage? No, no. We're just one body now. And that means... this is possible...!"
As the black moon finished, crimson-black energy surged from Luna's body.
"L-Lucifer... My body's weird... It won't listen—"
—Stab!
—Splatter!
"Guh... Lu... Luna..."
"Ah...?"
The girl's small hand pierced through Lucifer's chest.
"Hahaha! Even you, the savior, are just pathetic human—heart pierced, you won't survive. Tell me, how's it feel? Your precious Luna's hand holding your heart? Betrayed? Furious? Scream it out, Lucifer! I'm asking!!"
But Lucifer ignored Greed's mockery, concerned only for the fragile girl.
"Cough...! Luna..."
"Ah... Aaa... L-Lucifer... S-Sorry...! What have I done...! Aaaah..."
Stripped of will by the black moon, the puppeted Luna panicked, mind in chaos.
"Luna... It's okay. That wasn't you..."
Squeeze.
Even with a hole in his chest, dying, Lucifer embraced and comforted her.
A man's heart prioritizing the girl over himself, even in death.
"Luna... Sorry I couldn't... protect... you..."
As Lucifer's final breath whispered in her ear, the girl who crushed her beloved's heartbeat with her own hand lost all memories and fell into ruin.
Memory Recreation Terminated.
Feels like a bad dream.
A dream where flames engulfed my happy kingdom, loved ones died... And I clutched my beloved's heart in my hand.
"All just bad dreams... right...?"
So please, wake me up. Someone pull me from this dream. Someone...
Please, someone...
"Get me out of this hell..."
"Luna, how's it feel realizing the truth Lucifer sealed with his last strength that day?"
"N-No...! It's all lies...!"
"Lies? Then what's in your hand, Luna?"
—Thump.
—Thump thump.
The girl felt something twitch in her grasp.
"Ah..."
Ah. Aaaah...
Aaaaaah................
AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA..................!!
Lucifer's heart. His heart, still faintly warm, appeared in her hand as a vision.
"I... killed him...?"
I killed Lucifer with my own hands. The man I loved more than anyone. My most precious... Si-hyun.
Did reincarnation really exist? He'd forgotten the past, reborn in a new world, living peacefully.
Forgetting he'd died by his most cherished girl's hand... Treating her preciously again, falling in love once more.
"Poor Si-hyun. Loving the Luna who killed him even in this life. What if he finds out, Luna?"
"N-No...! If Si-hyun finds out...!"
He'll hate me for sure. Resent me. Discard me.
No. No no no. No no no no.
Please say it's a dream. Please...
In that instant, the black moon shoved Luna into endless void.
—Plop.
"Wallow in the vortex of despair forever. From now on, I am you."
"Ah... No...!"
Despair and guilt. Regret and anxiety. Failure and gloom ruled the pitch-black space trapping Luna.
"Luna, back to those days. A world for just us two. A ruined world where no life breathes... I'll recreate it here."
—Splatter!
With Greed's cry, crimson-black Netherworld spread rapidly, seizing downtown Seoul in moments.
Soon, the red text that had plunged hundreds of thousands into terror and death reappeared before the people.
'Collector' Awakens