Short, Light, Free - Chapter 21: Peaceful Birth, Peaceful Death I

Lenny, an orphan from the Sector 41 slums, suddenly finds himself in possession of a rare and unknown affinity. It allows him to upgrade himself, using energy acquired from spirit beasts. But will he gain enough power to defend himself against those with every advantage he has never known?Explore the Western Alliance, where the Four Pillars rule supreme, and all vie for the title of the strongest faction. But when those sworn to protect the people fight amongst themselves, who will save them from the biggest threat they've ever known? And can one young boy, with no family and a handful of friends, survive all that chaos?

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

What happens when one eats Death?

Personally, I don’t really know. What I do know is merely one thing.

I’m hungry.

Therefore, I’ll take the heads of these guys and deliver them to my superiors.

Surely, I’ll be able to eat delicious food.

Come, if preparations are in order, we depart.

[Hottest Blood-Boiling Thriller]The Divine Level Expert from the apocalypse is reborn in the city. He intended to live a low-key, restrained life, but women broke off engagements with him, his family abandoned him, and everyone looked down on him…“I was low-key, but you forced me to be arrogant. Since it's come to this, then let Heaven be in awe, let the earth tremble, let the whole world go crazy because of me!” —Ye Tianchen.