Darkness.
Not the Dungeon's darkness, not at night.
This was deeper.
Weightless.
Endless.
Kael floated.
No pain.
Nobody.
No sound.
Then—
Light.
Not blinding or burning, but soft. Warm. Gentle and Holy
It came from nowhere and everywhere at once, like moonlight filtering through a world that didn't exist.
He stood barefoot on nothingness.
Before him…
A woman stood.
No—a presence of light shaped like one.
Silver hair flowed like liquid starlight.
Her eyes were vast, luminous, and ancient.
A bow of light rested in her hand, its string humming like a living thing.
Kael found her familiar. Not by name or face.
By memory in his blood.
"…You hear me at last," she said.
Her voice didn't sound.
Yet he can understand what she is saying.
Kael swallowed.
"Who… are you?"
She smiled—not kindly.
Not cruelly.
But filled with tiredness.
like someone who had waited too long.
"I am the one who blessed your bloodline before the gods descend to your world."
She stepped closer.
Each step made constellations bloom under her feet.
"You carry my light. But you do not yet understand it."
Kael clenched his fists.
"I didn't ask for it."
"None of the chosen ever do."
She answered him and raised her hand.
Light poured from her palm into his chest.
Kael gasped.
It didn't hurt him, but it opened something inside him.
Images flashed—
A woman in ancient armour firing arrows of pure radiance.
A battlefield of gods and monsters.
A dragon made of shadow and ruin is screaming beneath a moonless sky.
Kael staggered.
"That… that was—"
"Your first ancestor."
She replied, her eyes softened:
"And my first contract."
Kael's voice shook.
"Are you… a goddess?"
Kael asked.
She tilted her head.
"No."
"…Not anymore."
She turned away, gazing into the infinite nothingness.
"I am a spirit who once wore the name of Artemis."
Kael's breath caught. He asked:
"…goddess Artemis?"
She looked back at him.
"The one who loved mortals too deeply."
Silence.
Then—
She reached out and placed her fingers over his heart.
"You will awaken the light fully when death reaches for you again."
Kael whispered:
"…Will I survive?"
She smiled.
"Only if you choose to."
The world cracked.
Light collapsed inward.
And her final words echoed like moonlight in his veins:
"Remember me when you draw your blade."
Kael began to wake up on the floor three.
———
Somewhere in continent.
Swish.
Arrows shot through trees in a primate forest.
"Ughhh"
A wolf-like monster was found lying dead ahead, and a wooden arrow with iron tips was lodged inside its neck.
"Lady Artemis, how were my skills!"
asked a girl holding a bow and quiver on her back.
"You have made some progress compared to before, good!"
Replied a strikingly beautiful goddess with a serene yet authoritative presence
Long, light blue hair that is tied in a partly braided ponytail with several loose strands.
Vivid green eyes that reflect her connection to nature.
She wears a white and pale blue outfit adorned with gold hair accessories and bracelets. She carries a silver bow and wears long brown hunting boots.
Suddenly, a particle of light drifted through the air and merged with her body.
She froze in place, her beautiful brows knitted on frown.
Then, she relaxes her body and whispers in a soft voice.
"Kael? Kael Verdan?"
"Have you finally awakened? Are you the one I am waiting for? Are you my Orion?"