....
Darkness gnawed at the ancient cave walls. Stalactites hung like the fangs of a sleeping beast, and cold breaths drifted from the corners, as if exhaled by imprisoned souls. At the heart of that cave, surrounded by a small pool of clotted blood, stood three men.
One of them was kneeling, breathing heavily, his body covered in wounds, yet his eyes still burned with unbreakable defiance.
The other two stood before him, clad in black, their swords dripping with blood that had not yet dried.
One of them smirked maliciously, eyes gleaming with greed:
.. "Ji Ji, you fool... Just die already! Let us take your blood essence and be done with it! Your end has come!"
The other stepped forward, sliding a hand along his long blade, and added:
.. "Your blood essence is rich... we'll rise to the elite if we obtain it."
Ji Ji did not answer. He stared at them silently, then spat blood on the ground and said in a hoarse voice:
.. "I will never forgive you... You deserve death."
Then..
With a trembling hand, he reached for a small pendant around his neck, covered in ash and blood .. something rarely seen.
He pressed it with his finger, and from it burst a crimson-red light .. not just light, but a force that seemed to want to tear the sky itself apart.
The cave shook..
The two men instinctively stepped back, eyes widening:
.. "What is this?!"
.. "This isn't just a spiritual treasure... It's..!!"
The red light spread through the cave, taking the form of a colossal misty dragon swirling around Ji Ji's body, as if guarding him.
Ji Ji rose slowly. His wounds began to heal. Behind him, a shadow emerged .. like an ancient ancestor .. casting a deathly gaze at the two enemies.
In a cold, sharp voice, Ji Ji said:
.. "You betrayed me… You killed my family and my friends… Now… it's time for judgment."
Before either of them could flee, the light dragon lunged forward and devoured the first man's body in an instant. Just one scream.. then silence.
The second tried to activate an escape seal, but Ji Ji appeared before him in a flash, as if teleporting, and plunged his hand into his chest, ripping out his heart without hesitation.
He whispered before the man fell:
.. "This... is for my family's blood."
.....
Ji Ji collapsed to the ground, exhausted. His body struck the cold stone floor, his breath coming in shallow gasps .. on the brink of life and death. The red light of the pendant had faded, as if it had used all its power to keep him alive.
Amid the overwhelming fatigue tearing through his body… he felt something strange.
He slowly raised his head, his eyes catching a sight he would never forget.
A small purple orb of light .. no larger than a child's heart .. floated in the air, pulsing like a living heartbeat, and rapidly approaching. Its glow resembled the dawn… yet it was not hopeful light, but something far older… and more dangerous.
Ji Ji whispered, barely able to hear his own voice:
.. "What… is that?"
He tried to move, to lift a hand or crawl away… but his body refused to obey.
In the next instant, the purple orb of light shot toward his head and pierced his forehead like a raindrop breaking the surface of still water.
He screamed.
Not a scream of mere physical pain .. it was the scream of a soul being torn apart.
The pain in his head intensified, as if his skull were being forced open, as if thousands of needles were piercing his mind.
Ji Ji fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
....
Now we dive into Ji Ji's sea of consciousness .. where the battle is no longer between bodies, but between souls. Between what remains of Ji Ji's will, and a mysterious force threatening to consume him from within.
....
In a place not bound by distance or time..
Deep within the soul, in the Sea of Consciousness,
Ji Ji's spirit floated .. light as ash, turbulent as waves in a storm.
The sea around him was black, but faint purple light shimmered through it, dyeing the waves with a sinister hue, as if existence itself was writhing in pain.
Ji Ji didn't understand.
He was afraid… lost… searching for an escape.
But what he saw before him froze his very soul.
Another spirit…
Floating just a few steps away…
It resembled him, but bore an inhuman aura.
Eyes glowing violet .. void of emotion, filled only with cold disdain and deep hatred.
Ji Ji, voice trembling, asked:
.. "Who… are you?! What are you doing in my sea of consciousness?!"
It didn't answer.
It slowly approached, silent and deadly .. like a predator savoring the terror before the kill.
Ji Ji reached out, trying to form a spiritual sword from his willpower .. but…
The sword never materialized.
The violet spirit finally spoke, in a deep voice that didn't belong to this world .. but Ji Ji couldn't understand a word.
Then it struck.
Their souls collided, igniting the purple sea.
Spiritual energy surged wildly around them, and the two entities clashed in a brutal inner battle.
Ji Ji fought back, summoning all his willpower, fear, and memories…
He tried to recall his mother, his friends, the years of weakness… the blood spilled because of him.
But it wasn't enough.
The violet spirit was stronger.
It fought like hunger itself .. as if it possessed the hatred of a thousand lifetimes.
In a flash, it pierced his soul-chest, embedding its hand deep into his essence.
Ji Ji screamed .. a cry no one heard.
It whispered to him as it devoured him:
.. "Sleep forever… I'll send all those who scorned you… to Hell."
Then…
It consumed him.
Ji Ji's soul-light vanished.
Only fragments remained, fading into the Sea of Consciousness, like ashes of an unfinished dream.
As for the violet spirit…
It sat in the center of the sea, closing its eyes.
It began to merge with the physical body, flowing through the veins… becoming the new master of the flesh.
> And outside .. in the material world ..
A faint groan escaped Ji Ji's lips… but it was no longer his voice.
...
Time passed .. unmeasured.
Moments? Hours? Perhaps days?
Nothing existed but darkness… then, the eyes opened.
Ji Ji opened his eyes again.
But something inside was no longer the same.
His gaze was no longer frightened… but steady.
His breath no longer labored… but deep and controlled.
Even his silence… was no longer from exhaustion, but from watchful calm.
He slowly turned his head, looking at the two charred corpses in the cave, and the dried blood staining the stones.
Then he murmured quietly, as if speaking to himself:
.. "A shame… he's already taken his revenge."
The voice wasn't Ji Ji's.
Not the tone, not the choice of words… not even the soul behind it.
A strange chill crept through the air.
He rose slowly, examining his new body, as if wearing unfamiliar skin for the first time.
He looked at his right hand, his arms, his scarred and wounded chest.
Then gave a brief smile .. not of joy, nor mockery, but existential awe.
"This body… isn't mine. And this world… isn't mine either."
He raised his eyes toward the cave ceiling, cracked from the earlier explosion of power, and whispered:
"I was on Earth… The last thing I remember… I just wanted to sleep."
He then looked at the slowly burning moss beside him.
.. "And here… I am neither in Heaven… nor in Hell."
.. "But in a strange place… a world governed by unfamiliar laws."
He glanced at the pendant still hanging from his neck .. the one that saved him during the battle.
And in a cold voice, void of regret or emotion:
.. "I'll accept this body… and this thing."
.. "Since I didn't die… I won't mind another life."
••••
End of Chapter One
The Devil's Beginning
....