My life had always been normal.
I had loving parents who were strict but fair, and a little brother so adorable that anyone who met him couldn't help but smile. Life in our village was peaceful. Safe.
Our village was protected by ancient magic that concealed us from the creatures of the outside world. I had been told that long ago, the people of our village saved the life of an elf. In return, the elves cast a powerful barrier over our home.
It was a comforting thought.
Especially because humans were weak.
No one in our village could use magic, and even among humanity, only a handful of people possessed any magical ability at all. Compared to the other races of the world, human magic was pitiful.
That was simply reality.
Humans stood at the very bottom of the world's hierarchy.
Fragile. Short-lived. Powerless.
Gods…
…I hate being human.
We're so fragile.
We're so—
Hiro's thoughts shattered alongside the village around him.
The glow of fire consumed the night sky as the smell of burning flesh flooded his lungs like a sickening perfume. The magical barrier that had protected the village for generations had not been strong enough to withstand the aftermath of the battle between the elves and the giants.
The elves had unleashed a high-order light spell known as Reaper's Law, annihilating the giants on the battlefield.
Hiro's village had simply been caught in the blast.
Collateral damage.
And the worst part was that this kind of tragedy was no longer rare.
Entire clans, races, and civilizations had been erased as conflicts between powerful beings grew more violent by the day. Ever since the death of the last Omnigod—the one existence capable of keeping the world in balance—the world had fallen into chaos.
Demihumans fought demihumans.
Mythical beasts slaughtered mythical beasts.
Every race sought supremacy.
And the gods?
The gods watched in silence, unconcerned with the suffering of lesser beings.
The throne of the Omnigod remained empty, and the world rotted without anyone to sit upon it.
"Screw this…"
Hiro forced his eyes open and slowly pulled himself from the rubble of his destroyed home.
The place that once held countless precious memories was now drowning in flames.
Groaning in pain, he dragged himself toward the forest where the fire had not yet spread. Using a tree for support, Hiro staggered farther from the village than anyone from his home had likely ever traveled before.
He had lost everything.
His family.
His home.
Even his reason to live.
Eventually, his body gave out, and he collapsed onto the cold ground. Blood poured from his broken leg while cuts and burns covered the rest of his body.
"I'm as good as dead…"
His voice trembled as he stared blankly at the sky.
"I've lost everything… and pretty soon, I'll lose my life too."
A laugh escaped his lips.
Pathetic.
That was the only word Hiro could think of as he lay there with one hand covering his face. Slowly, he raised the other toward the heavens as though cursing the gods themselves.
"Ha… up yours, you self-righteous, self-serving clowns…"
His hand curled into a fist.
"If I had one wish… I'd come back as something powerful. A cosmic wolf… a dragon… a god…"
His throat tightened.
"So I could tear at your heels and make all of you suffer."
The sound of flowing water reached his ears.
Using what little strength remained, Hiro crawled toward the river nearby.
"I guess this is where I die…"
The faint glow of the burning village reflected across the water's surface.
"If there's another life after this… I want power."
Then a voice emerged from the darkness.
"Is that truly what you desire?"
Hiro froze.
"To be powerful only in your next life?"
The voice was calm. Ancient.
"Why wait for another life when you could have power in this one?"
Hiro's breathing became uneven.
"You can lie there and die a meaningless death… or you can stand."
"Who are you…?" Hiro asked weakly. "What do you want from me?"
A chuckle echoed through the darkness.
"You may call me a friend. Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we share a mutual hatred."
The air itself felt heavier.
"I despise the gods, Hiro. And I would very much enjoy using you as an instrument of my revenge."
Hiro glared into the shadows.
"And what makes you think I'd let anyone use me?"
Each breath became more painful than the last as blood slowly filled his lungs.
"Oh…" the voice replied softly, "because what you feel right now isn't despair."
A figure began to emerge from the darkness.
"It's rage."
Moonlight revealed the face of a middle-aged man with long black hair and a thick beard. Shadows clung to him unnaturally, as though the night itself bent around his existence.
His presence alone nearly suffocated Hiro.
"That anger inside you…" the man continued, "it never disappears. It festers. Burns. Devours."
His lips slowly curled into a smile.
"You feel venom in your veins like a hydra preparing to strike."
Hiro laughed weakly.
"And what makes you such an expert on how I feel?"
"Because," the man answered, extending his hand, "I feel the exact same way."
For a moment, silence filled the forest.
Then the man spoke once more.
"Follow me, and I will give you power great enough to rival the gods themselves."
His eyes narrowed.
"Take my hand, and you will never again kneel beneath another being."
The man's smile resembled that of a devil offering salvation.
Hiro understood instinctively that accepting this hand would change everything. A hero would have rejected it. A righteous man would have died with his humanity intact.
But Hiro no longer cared about ideals.
Or justice.
Or who he used to be.
All he felt now was hunger.
A hunger powerful enough to consume the world itself.
Without hesitation, Hiro took the man's hand.
And with that single choice, the pact was sealed.
It marked the beginning of the rise of a creature more terrifying than anything the world had ever known—
—and the beginning of the fall of the world's hierarchy.