Massive stones keep plummeting from the sky like furious meteors, each one leaving a blazing trail before smashing into the ground.
The impact is so violent the earth splits into deep cracks, spitting smoke and heat.
I risk it — running through the gaps, feeling the air slice past as rocks miss my head by mere inches. My reflexes, now amplified by my new abilities, let me leap, spin, and slide in ways that would've been impossible before.
The ravens fused with my body give me short bursts of lift, darting me away from boulders that could crush me like an insect.
Even though I'm dodging every lethal strike, one cruel truth keeps pounding in my mind: I have no idea where I'm going.
The world around me is a maze of destruction — twisted trees collapsing like toothpicks, craters yawning open beneath my feet, and toxic smoke curling into the air. Every step is a blind gamble, and one wrong move means the end.
My instincts scream at me to keep running. My head begs for direction. But here, in the middle of this hell, the only certainty is that stopping means dying.
Then—a colossal boulder grazes my wings. The blast of pressure knocks me off balance, hurling me across the ground until I slam into the trunk of a massive, gnarled tree.
Pain detonates through my body. I feel blood dripping from places I can't even pinpoint, my skull pounding, the world spinning like it's trying to throw me out.
Still dazed, I lift my eyes and see a shadow forming above me. A rock the size of a house is plummeting straight down.
The sound of it tearing through the air is like the roar of a starving beast. There's no time to run. No space to dodge.
But just as the impact feels inevitable, something happens. The trunk behind me opens —not like wood cracking, but as if the tree itself breathes and pulls me inside.
The outside world blurs.
The sight of the boulder vanishes. The sound of its impact is swallowed whole. And in the blink of an eye, I'm somewhere else.
Blinding sunlight slams into my eyes, so harsh they burn. But before I can see clearly, my already hazy vision darkens further, as if the world itself is shutting me off. And then… I black out.
When I come to, it's like waking after being run over by a truck. My head throbs with a sharp, splitting pain, and every blink feels like hitting an invisible wall. My sight is still blurred.
"Damn it…" I raise my arm, but it's like lifting a block of iron. It weighs a ton, every muscle screaming to give up. When my fingers touch my face, I feel something unexpected — a bandage, firm and rough, covering part of my skin.
Before I can process it, a soft, teasing voice cuts through the air:
"Even with that bandage, you're still gorgeous. I've never seen a prisoner as handsome as you."
"Huh?!" My body tenses instantly, though moving feels like shifting stone.
"Easy… relax."
I turn my head slowly to the right— and then I see her. A stunning, refined face, features so delicate they look hand-carved.
Her fair skin, the glint in her eyes, and her serene posture remind me more of an elf from a movie than any human I've met.
But there's something in her eyes… something not entirely human. Something that studies me like a rare artifact.
"Who are you? Where am I?" My voice comes out hoarse, rasping, but heavy with urgency.
Before she can answer, a male figure appears to my left—followed by maybe seven more.
His appearance mirrors hers: sharp features, firm stance, but his gaze is harder. He's wearing what looks like an ancient warrior's armor, worn and scarred in ways that tell stories I don't want to imagine.
"Never thought it was possible… The hit was so bad you've lost your memory of this hell, huh?!"
Hell? What the hell is this guy talking about?!
"Stop it, Foster! Can't you see he's still recovering?" the woman scolds, her tone firm but patient.
Foster, visibly annoyed, grips the hilt of his sword, takes a heavy step, and — along with the others — leaves what I now realize is an old room. The walls are cracked, the wood creaks, and the air smells of dust and rust.
"I told you… bringing any human here is never a good idea. We've got only three hours until the area shift! And he's still a prisoner… lucky us! Tch!"
The slam of the door echoes through the room, the vibration rattling the walls. I take a deep breath, trying to piece things together. Damn… what's happening to me?
I look back at the woman. She looks young—maybe twenty… or less. Her face is delicate, but her eyes carry a weight that doesn't match her youth.
"You're human, and you're in the Deathboard—same as me. I'm the Vigilant Alissa Ker."
Vigilant? The word catches me off guard.
"Deathboard? Vigilant? And that guy… he called me a prisoner! What the hell is all this?!"
She smiles — not just any smile, but one so beautiful and delicate it feels dangerous. And in her eyes, there's a gleam that tells me she knows far more than she lets on.
"My eyes don't lie… Looks like you're a Revealed."
And in that moment, I know my fate has just changed.