"Be ready, monsters. You're going to meet your end," Aaryan mumbled.
He leaned against the wall of the elevator, a frown shadowing his face.
"How could this happen? Did they not tell me because I wasn't worthy or something? Or did they just not like me?" he thought, lifting his hair bangs.
"That isn't possible. I am the strongest. I am the best... I proved it to everyone... Then why? Am I missing something?"
His mind spiraled.
"No, I'm not missing anything. I know everything. After all, I have chosen Maya—"
Aagh!
Aaryan let out a loud scream. His head started to throb—pain like thousands of centipedes crawling inside his skull, eating it relentlessly.
His body trembled violently; his eyes blurred, his consciousness faded... and eventually, he passed out.
"What the—? Where am I?" Aaryan shouted, looking around. It felt like he was somewhere else entirely.
The place was the same as the one he had seen in his dreams. Strangely, it didn't feel unfamiliar. Instead, it felt... warm.
Comfortable.
Even though the place had nothing, that nothingness made Aaryan feel free—and even joyful.
To his own surprise, his body was trembling, not from fear... but from excitement.
"Why the hell does this place feel so... good?" The words slipped from his mouth on their own.
"Oh? So you find this place good too, huh?"
A voice came from behind him.
Aaryan turned back—but no one was there.
After searching for a while, he turned again—only to freeze.
He saw something he felt deeply familiar with, yet knew almost nothing about.
He saw... himself.
Aaryan stood face-to-face with his own image—sitting on a throne, golden and radiant, with stairs beneath it.
The sight was beautiful... or rather—divine.
But that beauty quickly warped into horror.
The throne was not golden—it was crimson, crimson like blood.
And the stairs weren't stairs at all—they were dead bodies.
"What the hell does this mean?!" Aaryan shouted at the one on the throne.
"What do you mean by 'what'? You yourself said this place was good. So, to make it better, I brought my beautiful throne—and somehow, the stairs automatically came with it," the other replied, voice mocking yet cold and detached.
Aaryan looked again at the throne and felt disgust twist inside him.
"You call this a throne and stairs?" he asked, disbelief flooding his eyes. How could someone who looked exactly like him do something like this?
"I don't want to believe that he is... me. It has to be a fault of my eyes—my power. There's no way, no way, no way..." Aaryan kept mumbling to himself.
"How could it be that he is me? Why isn't my power working?"
His mind spun into chaos, though outwardly he still appeared composed—perfect.
Soon, realization struck.
It wasn't that his powers weren't working. They were. His power—to see through any deception or illusion, the power of Maya—was working perfectly.
It was simply that the one on the throne... was truly himself.
As he accepted that truth, the figure on the throne spoke—as if reading Aaryan's very thoughts.
"Finally... you see me. Or should I say—your better self?"
"No way, in this world are you a better version of mine!" Aaryan shouted.
"Oh? So you don't believe that I'm better than you?" the other asked.
"Yes," Aaryan replied firmly.
"But why? After all, you were the one who said, 'The only one I am beneath of is none other than myself.'" The other's tone was amused.
"Shut up! I said no such thing!" Aaryan's voice trembled with anger, veins standing out on his neck.
"Looks like something made you forget that. What could it be?" the other mused, feigning cluelessness.
"Hey! I don't know who you are or what this place is—but what I do know is that I have people I have to protect. So can you let go of me?" Aaryan said, his fury slowly subdued by his sense of duty.
"So, you still don't believe I'm you... and you say you don't know this place either, am I right?" the other asked.
"Yes. I don't care who you are—just let me out of this place," Aaryan snapped.
"Why? Why should I let you go? Don't lie—you feel it too, don't you? The peace in this place..."
Boom!
A punch tore through the air, aimed straight at the other's face.
"Hey! You're getting quite restless, you know?" the other mocked, effortlessly dodging.
"That punch was strong enough to eradicate a whole horde of monsters. If it had hit me, I would've been... dead. I'm joking. Do you really think a weak punch like that could even scratch me?"
The look on Aaryan's face was far from calm—it was as if he was being controlled by pure bloodlust.
"You know what... I don't like that expression," the other said, pausing briefly before smirking.
"It's because I hate when people imagine the impossible as possible. In your case—you're trying to kill me."
Then, he burst into a laugh. A deep, chilling laugh that filled the empty void around them.
As the laughter faded, the next instant—
Thud!
The other's kick slammed into Aaryan's stomach with such force that his body flew across the endless plane.
In Aaryan's eyes—there was nothing.
He hadn't even seen the attack.
His greatest pride—his eyes—were now useless.
He tried to stand, but immediately fell, coughing blood.
"I've never felt like this before... Just—just what is he?" His hope shattered into fragments like a broken mirror.
"You think you can save others with this pathetic will?" the other asked, now seated casually on his throne once again.
"Can I really do that?" The thought surfaced in Aaryan's mind.
And then, like cracks spreading in glass, countless doubts followed.
"I can't even beat this guy. How can I beat those Rakshas?
Am I really the strongest? Is this the limit of the strongest?
Why did I say I could handle it alone?
Why did I think my power would work against them?
Saving others is like a dream... The question is, can I even save myself?"
But as every dark night eventually ends—so did Aaryan's.
"What am I thinking?" A small, almost mocking laugh escaped his lips.
The other watched in silence, his face unreadable.
"I am the strongest. I'll beat everyone in my way. What are some mere Rakshas before me?" Aaryan said, rising to his feet and glaring forward. "There is no exception... not even you."
"Oh? So it's that way."
The other smirked slightly. "Now, I'm very excited to see how easily you'll protect the others from those 'mere Rakshas.'"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an object appeared in his hand.
Aaryan looked closely—it was shaped like an eye, the same as the carving on Aaron's seat—closed eyes, crying.
"Wait! That is an—"
"Time's up, boy," the other interrupted—and crushed the symbol in his hand.
A blinding light erupted from the shattered object.
Aaryan's vision was engulfed in white.
When he opened his eyes again—he was back in the elevator, leaning against the wall, standing.
Fooh!
He let out a sigh of relief—but soon realized it might be too late to reach the district.
Panic hit him; he brought forth a hologram.
When he checked the time, his eyes widened.
It hadn't changed—it was still the same moment as when he had passed out.
"What the hell..." Shock and disbelief struck Aaryan.
Moments later, he steadied his breath and regained composure.
"I don't know what happened... but I do know what's going to happen."
The elevator doors slid open, and Aaryan dashed out.
"I will save them." Every fiber of his being echoed the same resolve.
Moments later, Aaryan arrived at the district—and looked down.
He looked down because he was in the air.
Below, the district lay in ruins.
Monsters rampaged in hordes, Rakshas leading them through chaos and fire.
"Now..." Aaryan whispered, his gaze sharpening.
"Let the strongest work."