_Chapter Begins_
Inside an endless, unchanging space of darkness, there lay a single human.
He had messy black hair, deep black eyes, and pale, almost lifeless skin.
Floating above the young man was a single orb, glowing with a brilliant purple radiance—so bright it seemed to illuminate the very emptiness of this judgment realm.
William lay motionless, staring at the orb with a dark expression.
By now, he had pieced together a few ideas about what this purple sphere might be.
Back in the basement of the cursed church, he had seen three disturbing drawings. Out of those, only the first truly mattered to him now:
"A faceless demon holding seven orbs in its open palm."
William's expression darkened further.
He was certain—this purple orb floating above him was one of those seven.
But there was another theory, one he wasn't entirely sure about.
When he first saw the drawing, he assumed the faceless demon represented Satan, and the seven orbs were the Seven Deadly Sins. It had seemed logical then.
But now… he wasn't so sure.
Yes, it made sense with mundane reasoning. But William knew all too well by now: mundane logic and half-baked conspiracies weren't enough to navigate this world anymore.
The orbs could be anything. The faceless demon could even be an angel, for all he knew.
And yet… his intuition screamed at him.
This orb was no noble being.
It was evil. Evil in its very nature.
Still, William didn't try to run. There was nowhere to hide. No escape in this endless abyss.
So he just lay there, waiting.
"What plans does this thing have for me?"
The answer came quickly—faster than he had ever wanted.
Without warning, the orb darted downward with blinding speed and plunged straight into his chest.
William writhed and let out a guttural scream.
But strangely, there was no physical wound. The orb passed through his body as if it weren't even flesh, leaving not a single mark.
And yet the pain was unbearable.
It felt as though his very soul was being torn apart—stretched wide, shredded—while something forced itself deep inside.
Time lost all meaning.
Was it hours? Days? Weeks? William had no way of knowing. Pain drowned all sense, all thought. He couldn't even count the seconds.
And then—gradually—the torment eased. Bit by bit, the pain dulled… until it was gone.
In its place came warmth.
Was he being....Healed?
William didn't know. Didn't care. The agony had stopped. That was enough.
He collapsed, sprawled out with limbs shaking, gasping shallow breaths.
At least he was alive.
Or was he?
As his mind cleared, unease returned. The orb had entered him without leaving physical damage. That could only mean one thing.
And the answer came easily enough—because this wasn't the first time he had felt it.
Back when he and Elsa had hidden in the bush, surrounded by cultists as the sun began to set, he'd felt it too: that unnatural dread, carved deep into his core. His very soul had trembled.
And now, that feeling had returned—first as dread, then as agony—as the orb fused into him.
Yes. He was sure of it now.
This wasn't pain of the flesh.
This was pain of the soul.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
That purple orb—whatever it was—had latched onto his very essence.
"The fucking thing just latched onto my soul!"
End of Volume 1 – Fall from Humanity
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Hello guys, Author here 🖐
The first volume of Destiny is officially done 🎉! Of course, you might be surprised at how short it was. This volume only had 20 chapters, with each chapter averaging around 500–600 words.
But don't worry—the reason why this volume was short comes down to two things:
1. This volume was written a long time ago.
2. It's mainly a setup volume for the real plot of the story.
All the volumes after this will not only be much longer in chapter count, but also in word count.
Next up is Volume 2:Chains of Fate—my personal favorite volume that I've written so far.