Squench!!
Blood splattered everywhere. The man lifeless eyes widened in shock as he glanced down at the spear that had impaled his chest.. When the spear pierced him, the meagre strength that was left drained.
Yet the man with the black sword—already cracked and on the verge of shattering—refused to fall. He staggered, then roared, twisting his broken weapon in his hand.
With an anguished cry, he charged into the swarm. His left fist clenched so tight the veins bulged, and he hurled it forward with all his fury.
Boom!!
The impact sent enemies flying back, their twisted bodies collapsing in heaps. But the man didn't stop. His crimson-stained fist swung again, slamming into the nearest foe.
Squelch!!
The enemy's skull cracked open, spraying fragments and blood across the man's already scarlet skin.
Still, he didn't stop. His bloodshot eyes glared with madness as he drove his fist down again. And again, even the enemy screamed. At last, the enemy died, splashing the brain liquid onto the man. After a few seconds, the man stopped. His entire body trembled, drenched from head to toe in blood and brain matter.
His chest rose and fell like a beast. His eyes, glowing faintly red, stared blankly ahead.
But before he could take another step, he collapsed like a corpse. the black sword slipped from his grasp. It landed beside him with a dull thunk, its cracked blade half-buried in the blood-soaked earth. His half-open eyes stared blankly, lifeless, blood still dripping from his temple.
He forced them to move, to scan the battlefield one last time. What he saw was nothing short of hell.
The sky burned crimson, shrouded in thick smoke. Mountains of corpses stretched to the horizon, and rivers of blood carved paths through the ruined land like veins of a nightmare.
All his comrades lay lifelessly on the ground.
Pieces of body parts. A lump of flesh floating on the pool of crimson water.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Then suddenly, it started raining. As if heaven was mourning, watching all
The sound of blood dripping from his own fingertips echoed louder than the screams that had already faded.
And then…
It began to rain.
Cold drops pattered against his blood-soaked skin, washing streaks of crimson into the muddy earth. The heavens wept, as though mourning the massacre below.
[Amazing...]
Suddenly, a voice vast and omnipresent reverberated through the battlefield, neither loud nor soft, yet it pierced straight into the man's mind.
The man with great difficulty moved his eyes. What he saw was a cluster of darkness. that writhed and twisted, devouring every stray glimmer of light around it. Its mere presence distorted the very air, as though the world itself recoiled.
[It's amazing to think you survived this bloody battle ]
The voice was deep, layered, carrying an eerie amusement that sent chills through the dying man's bones.
The man didn't answered. It's not like he is in a condition to move his mouth.
His body trembled—whether from exhaustion or fear, he could not tell.
The shadow stirred, drifting closer like smoke made sentient.
[Interesting… even now, with your body in ruins, your soul resists to surrender.]
The man's bloodshot eyes narrowed slightly. He had no words left, only a defiant glare.
The cluster of darkness pulsed, as if smiling.
[Good. That's what I like. Defiance. Despair. Rage. Humans who break themselves against fate… taste the sweetest.]
The being laughed. But the bloody man kept his silence.
[Ok. Tell me what your wish is. I will fulfil it as promised.]
[And no need to speak, I can hear your mind.]
"..."
[Hmm...? Your wish is to back? You want to start over?]
"..."
An enraged voice was followed by that. The air started to feel heavy. Then it calmed down as if nothing had happened
[Interesting. I thought you would be asking me to revive you or your loved ones. But sorry, that's impossible. With your achievement, it's not possible.]
[Even if you accomplished such a feat ten times over, reversing time would still be… debatable.]
"..."
[Impudent!! Looks like I was going easy on you, mortal. Do you think it is easy to turn back the river of time?]
"..."
[You are a stubborn mortal. Considering the blood you've spilled and the feat you accomplished, I will overlook this one insolence. Wish for something else.]
"..."
[Persistent, aren't you? Child, speak your other wish.]
Then a silence descended.
In that silence, the darkness around them shifted. It swirled like ink in water, the void itself seeming to lean closer.
"..."
[You want me to send back with no memories?]
[Even if I do that, what can u do? It will repeat again]
"..."
[I cannot grant what lies beyond the scope of death and time. But…]
The man's dim eyes flickered.
[…I can grant you something else.]
A tendril of pure shadow uncoiled and slithered across the ground like a serpent, stopping inches from his broken hand. Its presence was suffocating.
[A bargain. I will not reverse time for you, but I will cast your soul… into another thread.]
The voice trembled with dark amusement.
[Another life. Another path. Another 'you.' ]
The man's heart thudded once. His bloodied fingers twitched.
[But know this, mortal—each time you defy fate, the price grows heavier. Your soul will erode. Your pain will multiply. Until nothing remains but the echo of who you were.]
The shadow leaned closer, its unseen eyes boring into his fading ones.
[Do you accept?]
The man's cracked lips parted ever so slightly. No sound came out, but his answer—like a dying ember refusing to go out—flared inside his mind.
"..."
The darkness shuddered, pleased.
[So be it.]
Suddenly, the tendril darted forward, plunging into his chest.
The world trembled as if it was tearing apart at its very seams. The battlefield dissolved into shards of light and shadow, twisting like broken glass.
The man, half-dead and drenched in blood, only smirked. A stone, radiating seven colours, appeared in his hand. His grip tightened around the stone that shimmered with seven radiant hues colours so vivid they seemed to bleed into reality itself.
[I cannot wait—]
The voice paused in the middle as it felt the presence of something interfering with.
[WHAT!!!]
Then its gaze focuses on the stone radiating otherworldly light.
[That stone…! Impossible…]
The voice of darkness cracked, no longer steady, no longer omnipotent—it was laced with raw fury.
The shadow writhed violently, its formless mass quaking.
[You foolish insect! Do you even comprehend what you hold? That is no mere stone… that is the Axis Fragment! A shard of the Origin Axis itself!]
The seven-colored light grew brighter, spilling across the broken land, pushing back the suffocating darkness. Each hue hummed like a note in some forgotten symphony, warping the air around it.
[STOP! You are interfering with the Primordial Timelines!]
The voice roared, shaking the very skies.
[Do you realize?! You are wrenching your existence across streams not meant for mortals! Every cause, every effect—you will collapse them all! You are Interfering with the Space-Time Origin Axis]
The man coughed, blood spilling from his lips. Then his gaze landed on the woman lying on the ground with a bloody hole in place of her heart. His body was breaking apart, yet his smile widened.
'If that's the cost… so be it.'
The stone flared. The colors intertwined, weaving into a spiral of impossible light that pierced through the void itself.
Reality bent. The battlefield was no more. The corpses, the rain, even the red sky—all of it was swallowed.
And then, silence.
A single whisper escaped the darkness, trembling in both fear and rage.
[You damned mortal… you have invoked something even I cannot control.]
The world shattered like a mirror.
And the man's soul was hurled into the spiral of seven-colored light, vanishing from the battlefield of despair toward something unknown,