A gentle breeze swept across the lush grassy landscape, carrying with it the fresh scent of morning dew.
Sunlight cascaded over the short grass blanketing the sloppy hill, the golden rays dancing with the swaying blades as if the earth itself breathed in a slow, peaceful rhythm.
Birds chirped in the distance, unaware or perhaps uncaring of the sorrow lingering atop the hill.
At the crest stood two ancient laurel trees, tall and dense, their intertwined branches forming a natural canopy. Their leaves rustled softly in the wind.
Together, the trees cast a vast shadow across the ground below, shielding it from the warmth of the sun as though guarding a sacred place.
Beneath one of the broad trunks sat young Will, legs folded, eyes closed, his small hands resting on his lap. His dark hair fluttered gently in the passing breeze.
Though only twelve, his expression carried the weight of someone far older, someone who had stood too close to the jaws of tragedy.
Twelve years had passed since Kaiser and his wife had found him abandoned in the forest. Twelve years since he had been embraced by a family that gave him warmth, love, and a place to belong.
And yet…
Those twelve years had slipped past like fleeting breaths.
Now the hill that was once filled with laughter and gentle scolding felt unbearably quiet.
Will slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the two graves before him. The earth was freshly turned on the second one, the soil still damp.
The stones bore simple engravings that looked humble, just like the couple who rested beneath them.
Instead of being buried in the village cemetery, Kaiser had insisted he be laid to rest atop this hill.
Will remembered that day vividly. The old knight sitting beside him had been recounting memories of his youth, telling stories of how he used to run across this very hill with careless joy.
At the time, Will had brushed it off as an old man rambling a repetition of tales he had already heard countless times.
Who could have imagined that those words that once seemed insignificant would now be carved painfully into his heart?
His grandfather had passed two years ago due to a lingering illness. His grandmother followed only two days ago; her frail body had finally given in after years of longing for the husband she had lost.
Will had cared for her tirelessly; he had cooked meals and fetched water. He had supported her when her legs had grown weak, yet in the end, the two gravestones stood side by side, and he was left alone once more.
His throat tightened as he drew in a shaky breath.
But grief wasn't the only shadow haunting him; there was something else that had been gnawing at him, taking his sleep away during this delicate age.
From the earliest years he could remember living in this world, Will had realized without fully understanding that something about him was quite different from his peers.
His occasional nightmares were too vivid and felt too real. His instincts were sharp in ways no child's should be. And then all the memories returned in a sequence when he turned ten.
Like knives stabbing into his young mind, fragments of a previous life flooded in.
About a life lived on a distant planet far away from this world.
Earth.
Or, as the abyss beings that had descended on it used to call it—the Blue Planet—for them, this small, puny planet was just a dot they needed to crush with their massive strength.
In his past life, Earth had been an ordinary, peacefully balanced place to live with occasional small-scale wars.
A world where people went to work, complained about traffic, and dreamed simple dreams.
Will had been an ordinary teen in that world, working a mundane part-time job along with studies, hoping for a better future and a lovely wife.
You know every man's minimalist dreams are filled with peace and security.
Then one day the phenomenon called the apocalypse descended without any alarm.
Monsters started to erupt across the planet, tearing apart cities and people alike, swallowing millions in mere days.
The blood of humanity dyed the soil crimson so that even the dawns felt like dusk.
Chaos reigned supreme and order was a thing of the past.
But eventually, nature tried to respond with balance, or so the scientists claimed.
Humans awakened extraordinary abilities, rising as Hunters. Society reorganized itself, placing these fighters at the top in a matter of a few years.
For William, who had lost both his job and his father to the monsters, it brought hope.
He had a family consisting of a widowed mother and a little brother.
After his father's death he had vowed to survive for them and provide them with safety and care that had disappeared when his father had been killed.
He believed things would get better as he tried to survive and provide his family with better resources.
That hope remained until the second calamity struck.
The Abyss opened once again, this time, and demons poured out like plague rats.
Humanity, which was already battered and bleeding after the first calamity, was pushed to the point of total annihilation.
Panic became the new normalcy.
Hope among people turned fragile.
And William found himself scrambling to protect what little family he had left in this world.
He insisted to them that they move to a safer city, one that still remained untouched by the Abyss.
He argued, convinced, and pleaded until their mother finally agreed to his insistence.
But fate was merciless and cruel.
The moment they arrived in the new city and unboarded the train, the moment Will stepped on the platform, another abyssal portal ripped open nearby.
Demons swarmed out, flooding the streets with screams and slaughter.
Will, alarmed and filled with fear, ran while carrying his younger brother on his back, while his mother followed behind desperately.
But one demon stood out among the rest of the mindless ones.
A humanoid monster, dripping with a dark, murky substance, as if its very body rejected the world around it.
It moved like death incarnate, like death was his ornament and cruelty was what he blessed mortals with.
Will ran even harder now; his lungs burned.
But disaster struck in unexpected ways; his mother suddenly stumbled, and before he could even turn back, the demon tore her apart in a single swipe.
Her blood painted the air, and her screams lodged themselves in his soul forever.
Then the humanoid demon turned to look at William and walked towards him without any hurry, as if his fate had already been seen by the demon.
With a single strike of its hand, Will and his brother, who were standing a few feet away, were sent crashing through the street.
He will hit the ground hard, and his breaths were knocked out of him.
Pain blinded him, and despair made him frozen to reality.
His vision turned hazy, but in that haze… he saw the grotesque demon pick up his little brother from the ground.
"No… please… please…" William begged.
He clawed at the ground, trying to rise, but his legs refused to obey. His whole body shivered just thinking about what this demon had done to his mother and what he could do to his brother.
His heart hammered inside his chest, thundering in terror and helplessness.
Then His eyes witnessed it, the moment, the ripping sound.
The horror that would never leave him and would be etched in his soul forever.
A heart.
A warm, freshly beating heart was placed gently on his lap as if the demon were offering a treat.
His ears went silent, and a plain, sharp, stunning sound was all that was left.
His body froze and his senses muted to subzero.
His mind broke completely.
The demon smirked, mocking him, savoring his torment. Then it turned away, leaving him alive and alone.
As if its sole purpose that day… was to destroy William.
Him, specifically.
Not his mother, not even his innocent little brother.
But him.
Will stared at the still-beating heart until his vision finally shattered under the weight of reality.
Regret poured into him like molten iron and dug into his heart and mind.
If only he hadn't insisted on their moving to another city…
If only he had stayed…
Maybe they would still…
A growl snapped him back to the present memory.
A low-level wolf monster stalked toward him, drawn by the thick stench of blood. Will looked straight into its hungry eyes, accepting his end.
William did not scream; his throat didn't allow him to.
In his final moments, Will placed a curse on himself.
He took a vow that etched itself deeper than blood, deeper than bone.
The memory of this tragedy would never fade.
Never weaken.
Never forgive.
If he gets another chance to be born, he will fight, find the source behind the apocalypse, and give it endless hell of torment.
And above all…
He would wipe out every last demon in existence.
The demon race would be wiped from the face of the whole cosmic reality, if there is one; he would pay any price to do that; he would do anything to make this image go away.
Those who were responsible for his current condition, no one would be spared.
NO ONE...
He would swallow everything, even death if he had to.