With both hands over her gaping mouth and dread filling her eyes, Emilia witnessed how dark clouds started covering the expansive sky across the entire world while in the middle of the cities, cracks started forming in mid-air.
But what followed was even more horrific in scale than what she knew of in her era.
As the cracks finally shattered, the void they created gave place to giant, spiral portals where a multitude of different sparks of different colors crackled on the ends of them.
And this… became the gateway for the true calamity that would follow.
"A real cosmic horror, don't you think?" Ryu observed as they now found themselves on the ground, seeing everything unfold from up close.
"After the appearance of those rifts, the areas in their vicinity slowly distorted themselves," Ryu explained as Emilia's eyes burned the sight into her eyes. "They became giant pocket dimensions where the sky was covered by blood-red clouds which dyed everything in crimson hues."
"In other words, part of Akasha… or at least the horrific side of it that poured out of the rifts."
Emilia saw the terrain around what she had come to know as Vanishing Points shift and transform, sometimes taking on the form of forests, swamps, plains or caves varying from one area to another.
'This is an abyss?' Emilia couldn't believe her eyes as this was her first time witnessing Vanishing Points open in front of her eyes.
But just as she was taught back at Therion Academy, Emilia knew what was going to happen. She witnessed monsters straight out of man's worst nightmares pouring out of the portals in waves.
They included specters and undead beings that relentlessly chase the living to make them one of them, clawed and fanged beasts that devour and kill their prey in the most horrific and painful way possible, cryptid and humanoid monstrosities that torture and instill fear in the hearts of their victims before killing them in delight, and real live catastrophes that can destroy cities in one instant.
'This… this is too much,' Emilia's expression was filled with despair and horror as she dropped to the ground on her knees, closing her eyes and covering her ears.
It felt as if her stomach was being twisted and churned as the frenzy, chaos, bloody gore and killing spree caused by the monsters continued without ever stopping.
"Yeah, it truly is a sight straight from hell," Ryu cut in, continuing to narrate the events as the sight visibly didn't disturb him all that much. "Whether it was by military power, chemical attacks or any other way, it was all useless against them."
"The land which was once peaceful turned into a world where monsters were dominant, and humans were killed and devoured without any chance of survival. It truly was the wild in its purest essence."
"Stop it," Emilia muttered, Ryu glancing at her before ignoring her.
"One month, two months, several months passed by and people lived in fear of death and the monsters that were its harbingers."
The scenes continuously shifted as the events of the Cataclysm replayed around them.
"One wrong move and you were hunted by monsters until you were dead. A real apocalypse."
After a short moment of silence, Ryu suddenly clapped his hands.
"Huh?" Emilia reopened her eyes hesitantly, noticing that they were back in the white void. "What…?"
"So?" Ryu leaned in front of her face, his tone and expression becoming playful. "In a dystopian and apocalyptic world overrun by monsters where does humanity's salvation lay?"
"The answer is simple," he started answering his own question as the white void shifted to a new scene.
A scene of countless people who possessed weapons that crushed and cleaved through the monsters with ease on one hand while on the other one, there were those who created hellfire, tornados, tsunamis, lightning strikes, avalanches, and pits of darkness from their palms, decimating hundreds of monsters and leaving only trails of corpses in their quakes.
"One after another, people with unique powers started appearing after the cataclysm and they used their newfound abilities to fight against the invading monsters."
Emilia watched the tale Ryu was recounting happen in front of them.
"From their actions, others started following in their footsteps and the small ripples on the water's surface that started from small groups of individuals fighting on the battlefield became a giant and powerful stream that filled people with hope and the strength to fight against despair."
Ryu then placed both his hands behind his head as if he was the most chill guy in the world.
"And just like that, the monster forces got exterminated and in five years since the Cataclysm, civilization started flourishing once more and humanity started evolving until finally, there was only one mystery that still loomed upon them."
The white void returned as Emilia stared into Ryu's eyes who was crouched in front of her.
"The giant portals where the monsters were coming from had all closed, and now, they were replaced by smaller portals instead. So the question becomes…" Ryu seemed to wait for Emilia to finish his statement.
With her mind not having processed the horrors that she had just witnessed, Ryu's straight gaze seemed to had grabbed and pulled out the answer from Emilia's heart.
"What lies beyond these portals?" she finally answered, her voice just a murmur.
Ryu grinned in response.
"Yep. No one knew the answer. And even to this day, you're probably the only human who knows."
Ryu stood up straight with hands in his pockets as he put some distance between her and Emilia, slowly getting closer to the dark-blue sphere that had imprisoned Ace.
"After countless battles against numerous, diverse and powerful monsters, it basically became a necessity for humans to raid any rifts that appear since killing the wave of monsters, and their master who came from beyond the portal, was the only way to prevent further destruction."
"And this was how," Ryu then turned around to face Emilia with a smirk on his face. "With the newfound power humanity gained, Mana, the Realizers became the pillars that fought against the monsters. That about sums it up, am I right?"
To Ryu's words, Emilia simply held her head down, her bangs hiding her expression.
"Why did you show me that?" the questions started leaving her mouth one after another. "What does the Cataclysm have to do with Ace? What does it have to do with what's happening right now? Why are you telling me all of this?"
Her voice came out higher on the last question.
"What does it have to do with anything?" Ryu started with a question, a tinge of confusion in his voice. "It has to do with everything. It all began with that. When the Cataclysm hit, you, Ace, all of humanity's fate changed by that point."
"If the Cataclysm never occurred you probably would have lived a peaceful life as just a normal teenage girl. Ace would never have come to be, and all the deaths and destruction caused by the rifts would never have occurred. Humanity is simply owning up to the consequences of their actions."
Ryu's words felt like an illusion breaker to Emilia as she then stood up and faced him with a glare.
"What is it you're trying to say?"
Ryu simply smiled at the question.
"Me? Well, since Whitey deigned to give you his attention, I thought that compared to Ace, you were more worthy of knowing the truth," Ryu started before giving an explanation of his intent. "I'm pretty sure Whitey—no. Frost told you how Concepts are by nature, right?"
"They are Astral Beings who have a one-dimensional character. When a Concept is born, a factor to consider is how widespread that specific concept is within the collective subconscious. And if it has that much hold in Humanity's subconscious, then the amalgamation is filtered and concentrated into an Astral Being."
Ryu continued his explanation, Emilia recognizing the words she was being told.
"Of course, imagination plays a part in their final forms, but one thing to retain is that they lack any drive. And so, they don't have any particular interest in humans as is. They simply follow the flow and exist. As simple as that."
"What is it you're really trying to say, Ryu?" Emilia nudged him, still feeling unsatisfied with his roundabout way of talking.
Ryu chuckled slightly as the next words that came out of his mouth made Emilia's eyes widen with shock.
"Okay. To put it simply… isn't Ace the same as a Concept?"