I stood at the edge of a cliff.
Far beyond, the ocean stretched endlessly into the horizon, dark and vast beneath a dim sky.
Between me and that distant expanse rose something impossible.
An abyssal pillar.
It pierced the land like a scar—unnatural, towering, surrounded by a massive citadel. Its walls stood higher than the cliff I stood on, yet somehow… I could see through them.
Inside—
Chaos.
People ran in every direction, voices overlapping in panic as preparations for a final stand unfolded. Weapons were gathered, defenses reinforced, orders shouted in desperation.
They knew.
This was the end.
Below the walls, an army gathered.
A sea of corrupted beings—countless, writhing with twisted energy, their forms barely contained under the weight of their own corruption.
Asuras.
They stretched beyond sight.
Opposing them stood humanity.
A fraction in number.
Fragile.
Yet unyielding.
The walls were lined with defenders, each one ready to die where they stood. Between them and the approaching tide, a smaller army held formation, bracing for impact.
But their morale—
It was broken.
They knew the truth.
The city would fall.
The battlefield was suffocating.
Bloodlust saturated the air, thick and oppressive, emanating from the asura horde as they waited.
For a signal.
For a command.
And then—
It came.
From me.
The realization struck too late.
I had given the order.
Understanding followed instinctively.
This wasn't real.
A dream.
A vision.
I had no control—no body, no voice—only awareness, forced to witness what unfolded.
And then—
Something noticed me.
Not the army.
Not the people.
Something older.
Ancient.
A will that felt as though it had existed long before time itself.
It turned toward me.
Toward my presence.
And it reached out.
Not physically.
But directly—into me.
An attempt to take hold.
To overwrite.
To consume.
A crushing pressure slammed into my consciousness.
I resisted.
Forced myself back.
Out.
Away—
I woke with a gasp.
"—Agh… another vision."
It was still dark.
Cold stone beneath me, night air biting against my skin.
But the fear—
It didn't fade.
It remained.
Stronger than before.
Because it wasn't just in the dream.
It was here.
Real.
That same presence.
Somewhere ahead.
Calling to me.
I sat up slowly, heart pounding, every instinct screaming.
Questions flooded my mind.
Did I just see the future?
Why was I standing against humanity?
Why was I leading them?
But none of it mattered.
Not right now.
All I wanted—
Was to run.
To get as far away from that presence as possible.
This wasn't normal fear.
Not the fear of death.
Not survival.
This was something deeper.
Primal.
The origin of fear itself.
And it was calling me.
Why?
I didn't know.
But nothing good would come from answering it.
Worst case—
I wouldn't die.
I'd become something else.
Something like what I saw.
I stood.
Turned.
Took a step away—
And stopped.
"…Ah, hell."
A bitter breath escaped me.
Of course.
I turned back.
And ran.
Toward it.
The mountains blurred beneath my feet.
Under the faint starlight, jagged silhouettes stretched endlessly as I moved, crossing steep slopes and plunging back into dense forest.
My body pushed forward at inhuman speed, devouring distance as if it meant nothing.
Up.
Across.
Up again.
Another range.
Another climb.
By the time I reached the next peak, my breathing had grown uneven—not from exhaustion, but from the strain of sustaining such unnatural movement.
Even with this power…
There were limits.
Still—
This was nothing.
I pressed on.
Slower now.
More careful.
The terrain grew harsher, the mountains connecting into a brutal landscape of stone and shadow.
Then—
I stopped.
At the edge.
What I saw…
Sent a chill through my spine.
Hidden within a ring of mountains—
A chasm.
No.
Not just a chasm.
A wound.
The asura energy within my body stirred violently, growing restless, as if trying to escape.
A few steps ahead, the ground changed.
Dead.
No grass.
No life.
Everything beyond that point had been consumed.
The land itself was being devoured—slowly, steadily, the chasm expanding, claiming more of the world with each passing moment.
At its center—
Reality broke.
A rift.
A tear in existence itself.
From within it, something flowed.
Energy.
Not of this world.
Dark. Twisted. Endless.
It spread outward, infecting everything it touched, reshaping it into something else—something that belonged to it.
Nature was losing.
And I was watching it happen.
A catastrophe.
If left unchecked—
This would consume everything.
The entire world.
My breath stilled.
The energy emanating from that rift dwarfed anything I had encountered before.
Even what surged within me felt insignificant in comparison.
And then—
I realized something worse.
It knew I was here.
The massive, swirling concentration of asura energy shifted.
Focused.
On me.
It reached out.
Not physically—
But consciously.
Like it was alive.
Like it was thinking.
The call intensified.
Stronger.
Relentless.
I understood then.
There were only two choices.
Submit.
Or resist.
Even with fear clawing at every part of my being—
I chose.
"I'm not yours."
I stepped back.
The reaction was immediate.
The rift trembled.
Then—
A shockwave exploded outward.
It hit me like a wall, forcing me back, testing every ounce of strength I had just to remain standing.
And in the next instant—
Something changed.
The asura energy within me surged inward.
No longer trying to escape.
It rushed toward my core.
My atma responded.
The flames intensified.
Burning brighter.
Hotter.
Stronger.
Power flooded my body again—but this time, it felt unstable. Inefficient. Forced.
Desperate.
And in that moment—
I understood.
A command had been issued.
A kill order.
Every demonic entity in this region…
Was now hunting me.
I exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
I turned.
"Time to get the hell out of here."