There we were—the three of us—staring at each other: the two men… and me.
The air was heavy as lead. You could hear the wind slicing through the grass, a sharp, needle-thin whisper scratching against glass. The tension was so thick that, if I had reached out, I could have touched it like an invisible wall.
They stood still. I barely breathed.
And yet, every fiber of my being knew this would be the hardest battle of my life. Not because of the number of enemies. Not because of their names. But because, deep inside, something much greater was beginning to move—something that had slept for years… and was now waking up.
The moment I reached for my sword, two devastating blows hit me: one straight to the face, the other to the gut.
I didn't even see the first one coming—it was a flash, a black lightning bolt tearing through the air.
The impact lifted me off the ground. My helmet flew upward, spinning in slow motion, catching the sunlight like a shattered mirror. I caught a glimpse of my own twisted reflection in the metal before it disappeared into the light.
My chest cracked from the second blow; I felt my armor splinter like a walnut shell, leaving my body exposed.
The pain wasn't a normal hit—it was an earthquake that started in my bones and spread inward, as if something were ripping me apart from the inside out.
I couldn't even see my attacker move. Too fast. Inhuman.
The world spun around me like a carousel with no music.
My ears rang. My lungs screamed for air. Gravity itself seemed to multiply.
The blow drove me to my knees. My head spun. Everything hurt—my ribs burned, my stomach felt both empty and full of fire. I couldn't see; it was as if a black cloth had fallen over my eyes. I only felt the blood rising in my throat… then spilling out.
I started vomiting blood uncontrollably. The metallic taste filled my mouth, my tongue, my teeth. The heat of it clashed against the cold air around me. Each drop that hit the ground made a soft, wet sound—almost inaudible, yet to me it echoed like a drum.
I was about to lose consciousness when a voice rang inside my head.
It sounded distant, echoing through a cavern.
That voice was… mine.
But not mine. It was deeper, older—like my own voice had been carved into stone and now returned to me, amplified.
A version of me whispered in my ear, but at first I couldn't make sense of it. Incoherent words. Noise. Echoes.
It felt like being underwater, hearing a song warped by the current.
Each syllable came broken, yet loaded—with rage, thirst, hunger.
When I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again… I was no longer on the battlefield.
The world had vanished.
Now I stood in a dark place, where the air was suffocating—burning hot, like the inside of a furnace.
The heat embraced me like a starving beast. My lungs burned with every attempt to breathe.
I couldn't breathe. I was drowning.
Sweat dripped down my forehead and evaporated before reaching my chin. The darkness wasn't just absence of light—it was thick, solid, like smoke seeping into my mouth.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The heat vanished… and the darkness turned into a vast white hall, as if time itself had stopped.
The walls had no shape. The floor had no texture. It was like standing on nothing.
There were no echoes, no wind, no shadows. Only that endless whiteness, blinding, searing my eyes.
The silence was so absolute I could hear my heartbeat, my thoughts, my fears breathing.
Behind me, the voice spoke again. This time, it touched my shoulder.
The contact was like ice. A chill raced down my spine.
But I couldn't turn. I couldn't see who it was. My body was paralyzed. My muscles refused to move.
The burning heat was gone, replaced by freezing cold. My hands trembled. My fingers numbed, fragile as glass on the verge of breaking.
—Feeling better now?
The tone was calm, almost gentle—but it hid blades beneath its words.
—Who are you…? Where am I?
—It's too soon to tell you my name, the voice replied. But now… I'll be using our body. Rest for a while.
"Our body?" The phrase pierced me. It was like someone had opened a door inside me that I never knew existed.
—Our body…? What the hell are you talking about!? What kind of nonsense—!?
I felt a blow to the back of my head. Not physical—but it hurt.
Everything went black, as if someone had switched off the universe.
I fainted.
When I woke, I was still in that strange place—but something had changed.
In front of me stood a massive mirror.
Not a normal one—it looked like solid water, its surface rippling slowly, reflecting my face with a delay, as if my image came from another time.
And when I saw myself, I froze.
My eyes were no longer mine—they had turned a brilliant sky blue. An impossible blue, almost painful to look at.
And my black hair… was now white as snow, glowing faintly, as if it absorbed and multiplied the light around it.
My breathing slowed. Each exhale released small clouds of white vapor.
I turned slowly to the left… and there he was.
A man identical to me.
But his eyes were red. Not normal red—burning, molten, like liquid rubies, like boiling blood.
And his smile… twisted. The smile of someone who enjoys killing—someone who has waited centuries to do it again.
It was like looking into a warped mirror, one showing what I could become if everything inside me rotted.
My body trembled. I couldn't tell if it was from the cold… or from him.
The air between us vibrated, as if the entire room were holding its breath.
He stepped closer, grinning that chilling grin. His footsteps made no sound—he seemed to float.
When he spoke, his voice was both a whisper and a roar.
—I'm in control now, he said.
Suddenly, the floor opened beneath me.
No warning. No cracks. No noise.
One moment I stood there—then I fell.
I plunged into a dark abyss filled with water. The impact was silent; no splash.
I began to sink, deeper and deeper… oxygen leaving me, darkness embracing me.
I could feel my thoughts dissolving into that black water.
Bubbles left my mouth like tiny pearls rising toward a nonexistent sky.
—That's it. Sink… and wait. I'll handle the rest. Finally… I get to have some fun!
His laughter was a knife. It sounded like my own laughter—but twisted into something unholy.
Darkness closed my eyes, covered my ears, hollowed out my chest.
I sank.
He rose.
---
[Kurayami had been consumed by another version of himself. His body changed: white hair, eyes like rubies. The aura around him was dark and violent.]
He rose from the ground, his head still lowered. The two men facing him couldn't see his face… until finally, he lifted his head and smiled that macabre smile.
---
The sun shone upon the scene, but its light turned gray around Kurayami. The air vibrated, ready to shatter.
His white hair flowed in a breeze that didn't exist. His red eyes were open wounds.
The gods before him tensed. They could feel the change—but didn't understand it.
—It's been so long since I felt the sun, the grass… the warmth of air. So long since I felt this free…
His voice was both song and snarl—nostalgia and menace intertwined.
The gods exchanged confused glances.
—What the hell are you talking about!? A second ago you said you'd kill us, and now you're just babbling nonsense!
Kurayami tilted his head slightly, as if only now remembering they were still there.
—Ah… I'd forgotten you were still here. Pathetic weaklings.
One of them clenched his fists. The air around him trembled.
—Who are you calling weak, you damned bastard!?
Without another word, Kurayami moved.
It wasn't a human motion—he vanished and reappeared.
In a single instant, he tore the god's head off with his bare hands.
The body fell to the ground—dead. Blood spread across the earth like ink.
The other god froze, eyes wide, breath caught in his throat.
—How dare you kill the God of Wisdom!? You'll pay for that!
I, the God of Wind, will destroy you!
Special Skill: Hundred Cuts!
[Hundred Cuts: Blades of wind sharp enough to split a mountain. Duration: 1 minute. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
A storm of slicing wind erupted toward Kurayami. The air itself turned to invisible blades, hissing like serpents.
But he didn't stop. He kept walking.
Each cut that reached him healed instantly. The wounds closed as fast as they opened.
—Special Skill: Eyes of Chaos, he said.
[Eyes of Chaos: Unleashes the bearer's destructive force. Extreme regeneration. No usage limit. Price: ocular bleeding, brain damage, insanity.]
[Power level: 0.01% activated.]
The magical aura turned dark—terrifying. Not mere energy, but condensed hatred, pure hunger.
Kurayami vanished from sight, reappeared before the god of wind, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him into the air.
The god struggled to breathe—his lungs wouldn't obey.
—Gh… gaaah…!
With one hand, Kurayami snapped his neck. The sound was sharp, final.
He dropped the corpse like trash.
---
Then, I felt myself regaining control of my body.
It was like surfacing after being underwater too long—lungs burning, hands trembling.
My consciousness crawled back from the abyss, slow and heavy.
But before I was fully awake, I heard that demonic laughter echo in my mind.
—We'll meet again soon, Kurayami. This is only the beginning.
The phrase lingered, vibrating in the air of my thoughts like an echo.
And so, as I finally returned to my body, I collapsed to the ground—completely unconscious.
The world went black.
Cold and heat vanished.
Only I remained, suspended somewhere between nothing and everything.