As planned, the children were asleep in their homes, and the people of Ozhem had gathered in the square. The atmosphere was tense and filled with anxiety. Anyone with a child aged 22 to 23 couldn't hide their fear; their faces were pale, and they clutched their children's hands tightly.
Edmund emerged from his cottage—a place of prayer and solace—carrying a jeweled metal box that had housed the dagger for thousands of years. He stood in the middle of the crowd, set the box on the ground, and opened it.
Stepping back a few paces, he stared up at the sky. It took a moment for the cloud obscuring the moon to drift away, allowing the moonlight to shine upon the dagger.
All eyes were fixed on the blade. If it were to glow with a pale blue aura, it would mean that one of their loved ones was doomed to die, while if it remained dark, they could expect another hundred years of peace.
The dagger remained dark, and hope that they might be spared grew within them. But just as smiles began forming on their lips, a faint light emanated from the dagger. A pale blue aura gradually enveloped the entire surface of the blade and seeped into its edge.
Midnight.
A breathless silence fell over the crowd, and hands gripped one another more tightly. The legend of the Ozhem wizard echoed in their minds, and they knew exactly what was to come; they braced themselves for the inevitable.
A piercing trumpet blast filled their ears, and everyone looked at the sky. From now until the fifth day, the sun would not rise.
People hurriedly retreated to their homes, locking their doors behind them. Despite having heard the tale countless times, they had never seen it unfold with their own eyes. The tall, silver-haired beings with blue eyes terrified them so profoundly that they dared not even to part the curtains.
Three blasts on the trumpets followed, and now whispers could be heard from afar: "Aeternum... Aeternum... Aeternum..."
Edmund stood by the window and pulled aside the curtain slightly. Six cloaked figures, their faces entirely concealed, approached the Ozhem main square bearing a coffin on their shoulders.
Edmund, more anxious than anyone else, knew a secret that no one else was privy to—a secret that would soon be revealed.
The cloaked figures reached the square and placed the coffin beside the dagger. Before Edmund could get a closer look, they vanished.
Edmund rushed outside and moved towards the coffin. He arrived before anyone else and took hold of the dagger. The victim's name would only be revealed when the light of the dagger fell upon it, so he waited for the others to arrive.
However, the townspeople lacked the courage to face the unfolding events. They prefer to escape and flee on their horses.
It took a long time before one person emerged from each home. They gathered around the coffin, and Edmund placed the dagger upon it. As the dagger's light illuminated the stone lid, a name appeared.
The sight of the name elicited sighs of relief from some and sorrowful groans from others—sighs lamenting the individual's youth, beauty, family, and misfortune.
Edmund's secret was now laid bare, and the dream he had seen came to pass. In his dream, several stunning young beings, their chests bleeding, entered the city and approached the young jeweler. Their beauty was unmatched: blue, shining eyes and long silver hair braided by girls. The young jeweler's face glowed upon seeing them, and one of them reached out to him. William smiled at his parents and took the young one's hand. He then saw the dagger in their chest, and a man who emerged from among the beauties drank from a chalice filled with blood flowing from his chest.
The last victim offered by the people of Ozhem was from the Ultras family, and now this family was set to mourn the loss of their young son, Sebastian John's beloved. It was a fate from which the Ultras family had been desperately trying to escape.