My mind was hazy...
My body was numb.
I couldn't move a single limb.
And I was falling.
I was slowly sinking, carried by an invisible force into an endless ocean, a liquid and silent imnsity. Darkness enveloped , blinding and oppressive. I saw nothing, but I felt everything. The biting cold slid across my skin, seeping into my bones. The water seed to have neither bottom nor surface, as if it was absorbing entirely, stripping of my very being.
I kept sinking. Again. And I could do nothing but let myself be swallowed.
Was this death? This endless descent into the void? An eternal fall, without end, without hope?
I hoped, at least, that my sacrifice had not been in vain...
Then, suddenly, everything stopped.
The weight of the water vanished. The icy grip that had numbed evaporated like a bad dream.
My body, a mont ago condemned to sink, was now suspended in the void.
I opened my eyes.
A shiver ran down my spine.
I looked down, searching for solid ground beneath my feet... but there was nothing. Nothing but this endless emptiness, this abyssal darkness. Yet sothing struck .
This place...
This place... it had already swallowed once.
The air—or rather the absence of air—carried a familiar feeling. This oppressive darkness, these floating shapes with indistinct outlines... This wasn't the first ti I had been here.
I slowly raised my head, scanning the silent vastness.
Then, it all ca back to at once.
I had seen it before. This infinite void, this unreal silence. This scene, frozen in an eternity that defied all logic.
I was not just a stranger in this place.
I was part of it.
A wave of unease crushed . Why? Why had I returned? What did this return an? My breath quickened, a silent panic rising within .
And him...
The naless being, the unfathomable presence, the faceless god...
He was there, exactly as I rembered.
I swallowed with difficulty. Was this a dream? An illusion? Or worse... the truth?
My rage faltered under the weight of fear.
— No... it's impossible... I murmured, more to myself than to him.
The entity remained motionless, suspended in the ether, like a shadow frozen outside of ti. But I felt sothing emanate from him.
A chilling amusent.
— Impossible? his voice whispered, toneless, emotionless.
A tremor shook . He knew. He knew that I understood.
I had already been here.
And I should never have returned.
I wasn't here by chance. If he had called back, it wasn't to free ... but to bind further.
To him.
To that horror he called "will."
— What do you want from ? I asked, my throat tight.
My voice echoed in the void, fragile, insignificant in the face of the imnsity around .
The being remained silent for a mont. Then, slowly, sothing changed.
His smile.
At first imperceptible, it gradually stretched, widening beyond what a human face could allow.
His teeth appeared, white, perfect, inhuman. Too perfect, too even.
A demonic smile.
A twisted, sick grin, as if this thing was mimicking a human expression without understanding its aning.
It wasn't a smile. It was a monstrosity, an aberration.
A smile torn from the very fabric of reality, as if the universe itself refused to contain it.
Seeing it, I had the strange certainty that everything that exists would rather close its eyes than behold it.
— You're quick to understand.
His voice slid into my mind, clearer this ti. A subtle amusent, almost mocking, seeped into it, like a predator toying with its prey.
I didn't reply. I couldn't. My muscles were frozen, my throat tight, and each second under his gaze crushed a little more.
— I will grant you a second chance.
Silence.
The darkness seed to vibrate around us, as if those very words altered the space.
— Make you reborn.
A wave of dizziness overtook .
Reborn? As if all of this—my fall, my sacrifice, my death—was nothing but a simple ga he could reset at will?
But he didn't stop there.
— Ah, yes... by the way, your little goddess is alive.
My heart skipped a beat.
— After all, I chose her as my chosen one, granting her my blessing.
My vision blurred for a split second. A mix of shock and disbelief twisted in my chest.
She... was alive?
I wanted to feel relief, hope. But that wasn't what I felt.
Instead, a wave of quiet terror flooded .
This wasn't right. Nothing here was right.
Was it a veiled threat? A sly way to take sothing from ? Or was it simply kindness?
I had no idea.
But one thing was certain...
This god never did anything without reason.
His smile didn't fade.
On the contrary, it seed to stretch even more, as if he savored every second of what was unfolding between us.
Then, in a falsely innocent tone, he declared:
— Since I'm taking care of your wife in your absence... and since I'm bringing you back to life...
His voice lingered on the last words, imbued with a deceptive sweetness, almost caressing.
A shiver ran down my spine.
— You will owe two things in return. Isn't that fair?
Silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence.
He was watching .
Or rather, he was weighing , with that oppressive presence pressing on my mind like an invisible hand crushing my skull.
He waited.
My answer didn't matter. He already knew it. Just as I did.
There was only one way out. Only one valid answer.
I swallowed slowly, my voice barely more than a whisper.
— Yes. I will repay you my two debts.
The words left my lips without hesitation. Not out of submission, but out of clarity.
It was pointless, insane, to lie to such an entity.
To sothing capable of shaping reality itself, of bringing back the dead as if it were a re triviality.
I had neither the need nor the desire to play this ga.
A satisfied gleam flickered through the unfathomable darkness surrounding him.
— Honest. I like that.
A soundless chuckle floated in the void.
Then he resud, a tangible amusent in his voice:
— So, first of all...
The space around twisted. An invisible wave passed through my body, like a strange pressure, a shift in the very order of the world.
— I'll send you to another world. The one where you should've landed after the "Tutorial."
His tone was almost casual, as if referring to a minor setback.
— Unfortunately... well, you know the rest.
A biting irony laced his words, as if he found my fate both tragic and amusing.
A cold chill ran through .
Thinking about it would serve no purpose. Not here. Not in front of him.
A silent unease rose within , but I quickly pushed it aside, forcing myself to focus on the present mont, on the God standing before .
He spoke again, his voice echoing like a command in the vast hall, a voice that seed to carve itself into my mind.
— I will send you to the demon continent. There, exactly one year from now, a mini-world will open. You must enter it and discover its end.
His words seed to weigh heavily, the air around growing almost dense, as if the magnitude of the task ahead was finally sinking in. I couldn't help but feel anxiety creeping in, but I knew I couldn't afford doubt.
He continued, each word gliding through the air like a promise of pain and power.
— This world is shaped by seven great nations. After that of the demons, you'll find a mini-world created in each of these nations. You must destroy them all. By absorbing their power, you will grow stronger—far stronger.
The darkness seed to close in around , a glint of defiance burning in my eyes. I knew this path would be riddled with obstacles, that each step would be a trial, but I had no choice.
A shiver of anticipation ran through .
If I wanted to survive, if I wanted to beco soone this world feared, I had no other option but to accept what he offered.
I closed my eyes for a mont, breathing deeply, feeling the weight of this mission sink into my bones.
One year... One year before it all began.
But until then, I had to prepare.
— That's for the first debt, he said, in a neutral tone this ti, as if none of it concerned him personally.
I listened carefully, trying to read sothing in his gaze, but he remained impassive, unshakable.
— For the second, I'll tell you once you've destroyed all those mini-worlds.
The promise—or the threat—hung in the air like a sword of Damocles, but I knew it was all part of the plan.
Looking at him firmly, I nodded, unable to show any form of doubt, even if a part of still hesitated to accept the burden he placed on .
— Well, I've told you everything!
The conclusion of his words struck in a strange way. As if the fate of my mission was now sealed, irrevocably tied to his words.
Then, he placed his hand—or rather, what seed like his hand—on his face, a gesture that resembled more a mont of thought.
His eyes closed briefly, lost in a thought I couldn't grasp, before he resud.
— Oh right! You must never reveal yourself to any of the Chosen Ones, except your wife, since I am her god. But the others are watched by their respective gods, and you must not expose yourself to them—you, who shouldn't even be here.
His words clung to my mind, heavy with aning. He had said "you shouldn't be here," as if my presence in this world was rely an anomaly, an error that must be hidden at all costs.
That revelation made shudder, a deep unease taking hold of , but I didn't have ti to respond.
What he had told was clear: the road would be perilous, and every misstep could be fatal.
— Here, a gift, from , to help you, he said, his voice oddly calm, as if each word was calculated.
But just before raising his hand toward , he paused, tilted his head slightly, and added:
— Ah, I almost forgot. When you arrive there... take the path on the right.
I frowned, but he said no more.
— Why? I murmured, not really expecting an answer.
He let out a soft, humorless laugh.
— Because.
He touched my head with what looked like a finger.
But it was just a simulacrum.
A grotesque copy.
A hand without flesh, without nerve, a false extension of his will.
A false hand.
That of a god who pretends to be alive but never truly was.
At that mont, an intense warmth spread through —familiar, yet deeper this ti, more defined.
It was as if sothing powerful had just entered , a gift or a curse—I couldn't tell.
A dazzling light suddenly burst from the void, wrapping my body in an almost unreal glow.
It was soft, yet exerted a strange pressure, as if the universe itself sought to mark my transformation.
He uttered his final words, his voice nearly tinged with a cold excitent:
— I can't wait to see you again!
His enigmatic smile—that of a being who seed to revel in pain and power—reappeared on his face.
A smile that only deepened the unease, like a slow blade driven into my chest.
And as the light swallowed whole, a bitter thought crossed my mind:
"Is this how monsters are born? By saying yes to everything... to protect the ones they love?"
Before I could react, the light engulfed completely, plunging into radiant mist.
Then, all was black.
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