All the army Kai, Chiru, Vaal, Rhex, Sethr, Karn everyone froze in midair, locked between motion and death, while every sound collapsed into absolute silence, as if the world itself had been commanded to kneel.
Dev felt a violent rush surge through his blood, a raw excitement that split his sanity wide open, and he laughed laughed like a madman who had crossed the edge and found joy waiting there.
Hahah.Ahahahahhehhehheh.
He could feel everything now his crushed fingers screaming under shattered bones, his stomach clawing itself hollow from hunger, his throat burning dry as if it were tearing itself apart for water, his body breaking piece by piece while blood coated his hands and face like a sticky red paste, thick, foul-smelling, clinging to his skin and legs without mercy.
Dev sat down on the ground while the entire world remained frozen, settled into a lotus position amid the ruins, calm rising from chaos.
Then the change came.
A ray red, drowned in black haze began moving toward him, flowing out from the dead army itself, from severed heads, spilled blood, broken limbs, and scattered remains, as though the battlefield had decided to surrender its final breath.
Energy poured continuously, endlessly, converging on Dev alone.
While he remained seated, the red-and-black streams circled him, then forced themselves into his body without pause, without mercy, without permission.
Pain followed piercing, brutal, identical to swords being driven through his flesh again and again but Dev endured it, embraced it, lived inside that moment as the energy flooded him without end.
As his body absorbed the power, something else was being constructed deep within his mind.
A place.
A subconscious realm.
Darkness formed first absolute black, empty and endless where Dev stood alone, unable to see ground or sky, suspended inside nothingness itself.
Then, in the next moment, a black ocean was born.
A vast, violent ocean spread across that world, its waves heavy, restless, breathing like a living beast, water surging near his head as if trying to drown him, while Dev stood at the shore, facing water that carried its own consciousness, its own hunger.
The red-and-black energy followed him into this realm, lifting his body into the air, keeping him from touching the ocean, while the water itself resisted, refusing to allow Dev to merge with the stream.
Slowly, relentlessly, all the energy from the battlefield gathered here, merging into Dev's subconscious.
To awaken, one must first create a subconscious domain.
Only then can awakening occur.
This place becomes the foundation for the Blood Soul the symbol of true awakening but a Blood Soul can only be formed at the Pillars of the Dead in the Holo World, where ancestors choose whether their abilities are passed down.
When the new ability is granted, the Blood Soul is born.
The size of one's subconscious determines how much power they can bear.
The greater the subconscious, the greater the strength that can be stored.
A subconscious is formed only through fear, hunger, thirst, pain by absorbing suffering into one's true self.
That is why children are thrown into the Holo World for ruthless survival, forced to endure until only the strongest reach the Pillars of the Dead and awaken.
This world runs on selfishness.
There is no kindness.
Be selfish, or be erased.
If a person with a small subconscious is granted an ability beyond their capacity, the Blood Soul will destroy them, leaving nothing but a miserable death.
Dev's subconscious was an ocean violent, endless, suffocating its size unknown, its depths unseen, its presence terrifying.
Others might manifest fire, land, sky, or worlds of their choosing.
A subconscious is shaped by free will.
Dev chose domination.
Still floating in the air, wrapped in the energy stream, Dev could not control it, so he forced himself into the ocean.
The red-and-black stream followed, dragging him beneath the black water, clinging to him, covering his face.
Then Dev commanded it to stop.
The stream obeyed.
It gathered into his hand, condensing into a massive drop of red-and-black energy, pulsing like a living flame, while the ocean roared beneath him.
Dev opened his eyes.
The battlefield was normal again.
The army was gone.
Kai, Chiru, and the others rested beside him.
Kai rushed forward."My king, are you well? We were worried."
All six knelt before Dev, congratulating him for creating a subconscious domain.
Dev summoned the red-and-black energy to his left hand, where it burned silently like a condensed flame.
Confused, Dev asked what it was.
Kai and the others stared, drawn toward it, moving closer without realizing why, until Dev pushed them back into their senses.
Kai spoke again."My king… something was pulling us. Calling us."
Dev sent a portion of the energy into Kai.
The stream engulfed him completely.
When it returned, Kai emerged transformed armor gone, clothes burned away, eyes restored to true human form, naked and reborn.
Jealousy flickered through the others.
Chiru stepped forward, eyes burning with curiosity.
Dev released energy toward all of them.
Each was consumed.
Each emerged changed.
They knelt before him.
"Our power has tripled. We can fight them fairly now. We can slaughter the army."
A soul core appeared.
Dev absorbed it.
Yet hunger and thirst still gnawed at him, while none of them felt either.
They looked human.
But they were not.
They had no blood only black liquid flowed from their wounds.
A new species had been born.
They were loyal.
That was all that mattered.
Dev was ten years old, his mind matured by memories from Earth.
Time passed.
The awakening ceremony deadline had long ended.
His mother would believe him dead.
Then an ancient stone appeared before him.
Its words burned into his vision:
These six are Ancient Humans.Immortal in their previous lives.They sacrificed themselves for the future you now hold.They will remain with you through pain, suffering, and happiness.Be loyal to them as they are loyal to you.This is your reward for passing the test.
When you are powerful enough to face the world, return here.I have a task for you and a special gift.
The power in your hands is "Blood and Death Energy." Fuse it with your Blood Soul to unlock its true potential.
Now leave.
- NOBODY
this was written on the ancient stone written by "nobody"
Dev and the others were expelled.
When his eyes opened again, a red sky stretched overhead, dust filled land cracked and dead beneath it, no vegetation, no life only silence drifting through the air.
This is holo world