Darkness swallowed everything.
No sound.
No sky.
No ground.
For one endless moment, Ren existed inside nothingness itself.
Then—
Something opened its eyes.
The pressure hit him instantly.
Ancient.
Infinite.
His body locked in place as darkness stretched endlessly around him like an ocean without limits. Countless massive shapes drifted beneath the void below, too large to fully comprehend.
Sleeping things.
Or dead things.
Ren couldn't tell which was worse.
A faint blue light flickered beneath his skin, barely illuminating the emptiness around him.
And that was when he realized—
He was no longer standing on the battlefield.
"…Where am I?"
His voice disappeared into the void without echo.
Then the darkness moved.
A colossal figure emerged slowly from beneath the endless black sea below.
Not walking.
Rising.
Like an entire world surfacing from deep water.
Ren's breath stopped.
At first, his mind refused to understand what he was seeing.
Because the thing before him was too large for logic itself.
Its body stretched beyond sight. Fragments of ruined cities floated across its skin like dust. Chains the size of mountains wrapped around its arms and neck. Each movement caused distant cracks to spread across the void itself.
And then—
Its eye opened.
Blue.
Identical to Ren's.
The moment it looked at him—
Pain exploded through his skull.
Memories tore through his mind violently.
A throne floating above shattered stars.
Worlds burning.
Entire civilizations kneeling beneath black skies.
A war so vast galaxies looked insignificant beside it.
And at the center of it all—
Himself.
Not the Ren standing now.
Something older.
Something terrifying.
The figure spoke.
Its voice did not travel through air.
Reality itself trembled with every word.
"YOU REMEMBER."
Ren collapsed to one knee instantly, blood spilling from his nose.
"No…"
More memories flashed.
Countless doors opening across the universe.
Creatures pouring through them.
Humanity screaming beneath falling skies.
And Ren—
Standing before a gate made of living darkness.
Holding it closed alone.
The vision vanished.
Ren gasped violently.
The giant watched him silently.
Then chains suddenly tightened around its body.
The void shook.
The massive being looked upward slowly.
For the first time—
Ren saw fear in its eyes.
"They found you faster than expected."
A second voice echoed through the darkness.
Cold.
Female.
Ancient.
Ren turned instantly.
A woman stood behind him.
Or something wearing the shape of one.
Long silver hair drifted weightlessly through the void. Her black robes looked woven from pieces of the night sky itself. Strange symbols glowed faintly beneath her pale skin.
But it was her eyes that froze Ren completely.
Empty.
Not emotionless.
Empty.
Like stars had died inside them long ago.
The colossal chained being lowered its head immediately.
As if even it respected her.
The woman stared at Ren for several silent seconds.
Then she spoke quietly.
"…So this is what remains of you."
Ren stepped backward instinctively.
"Who are you?"
The woman ignored the question.
Instead, she reached toward his face slowly.
Ren tried to move—
But couldn't.
The moment her fingers touched his forehead—
Agony erupted inside his skull.
More memories exploded through him.
A battlefield beneath collapsing stars.
The woman standing beside him.
Billions dead.
Reality tearing apart around them.
And Ren—
Smiling while covered in blood.
"You finally understand now?" the woman whispered.
"You were never human."
The void shattered.
Ren's eyes snapped open violently.
He inhaled sharply—
And immediately felt pain across his entire body.
The battlefield.
He was back.
But something was horribly wrong.
The sky above the ruins had changed.
The crack was gone.
Yet the darkness remained.
No stars.
No moon.
Just endless black.
The surviving soldiers surrounded him cautiously from a distance. Broken weapons and bodies covered the battlefield around them. Fires burned quietly across shattered earth.
And every single person was staring at him.
Not with fear anymore.
With terror.
Ren slowly pushed himself upward.
Arlen immediately stepped forward.
"…Don't move too fast."
His voice sounded strained.
Uneasy.
Ren noticed the dried blood on Arlen's face.
And the distance he kept between them.
"What happened?"
No one answered immediately.
That silence frightened Ren more than anything.
Then the healer finally spoke.
"You disappeared."
Ren froze.
"…What?"
"For nearly ten minutes."
His heartbeat slowed.
"That's impossible."
One soldier suddenly laughed weakly.
Not from humor.
From panic.
"We all watched it happen."
Another soldier pointed shakily toward the ground beneath Ren.
The earth there was completely different.
Smooth.
Perfectly smooth.
Like the battlefield itself had been erased in a perfect circle around him.
Nothing remained inside it.
No ash.
No stone.
No bodies.
Existence itself had vanished there.
The soldiers avoided even looking at it directly.
Ren stared silently at the empty circle.
Then he noticed something worse.
The blue light beneath his skin had spread.
Thin glowing lines now crawled faintly across his arms and neck like cracks inside porcelain.
Alive.
Breathing.
The healer looked horrified.
"…Those marks weren't there before."
Ren quickly pulled his sleeve downward.
But everyone had already seen them.
The silence became heavier.
Arlen's jaw tightened slightly.
"…Ren."
For the first time—
There was hesitation in his voice.
"…What did you see?"
Ren opened his mouth—
Then stopped.
Because the memories were already fading.
Like something was suppressing them again.
But one sentence remained burned into his mind.
You were never human.
Cold spread through his chest.
Before he could answer—
A soldier screamed from the western ridge.
"MOVEMENT!"
Everyone turned instantly.
Far beyond the ruined battlefield—
Lights appeared.
Thousands of them.
Torches.
An entire army approaching through the darkness.
But something felt wrong immediately.
Too quiet.
No marching sounds.
No banners.
No voices.
Just lights moving slowly across the horizon.
The surviving soldiers exchanged uneasy looks.
Arlen narrowed his eyes.
"…That's impossible."
One scout climbed the rubble for a better view.
Then suddenly froze.
His face lost all color.
"…Captain…"
His voice trembled.
"…Those are our soldiers."
Silence.
Another scout rushed upward beside him.
Then staggered backward in horror.
"Oh god…"
Ren's eyes narrowed.
"What is it?"
The scout looked toward him slowly.
Terrified.
"…They're dead."
The lights continued approaching across the darkness.
Thousands of unmoving soldiers walking together in complete silence.
Every single one of them dead.
Armor broken.
Bodies mutilated.
Eyes hollow.
Yet still marching.
The battlefield erupted into panic.
"That's impossible!"
"How are they moving?!"
"Fall back!"
One corpse suddenly lifted its head toward the survivors.
Then all of them stopped simultaneously.
Thousands of dead soldiers turned together toward Ren.
And smiled.
The same horrible smile.
Like puppets learning how to imitate humanity.
Then the corpses began running.
The earth shook beneath them.
An entire dead army charging across the darkness.
Arlen drew his sword instantly.
"DEFENSIVE FORMATION!"
The surviving soldiers moved desperately despite exhaustion and fear. Mages raised barriers. Archers prepared trembling arrows.
But everyone already understood the truth.
They could not survive another battle.
Not like this.
Ren stared at the approaching dead silently.
And suddenly—
He felt it again.
That presence beyond the sky.
Watching.
Waiting.
Learning.
The blue marks across his skin pulsed violently.
The whispers returned.
Stronger now.
"Open it."
"Return."
"Remember."
Ren grabbed his head painfully.
"No…"
The dead army came closer.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
Their hollow eyes reflected the burning battlefield like endless mirrors of death.
One corpse reached the front line.
A young soldier.
Half his face missing.
Still smiling.
Then he spoke.
And every living person froze.
"HE IS THE GATE."
The dead army screamed together.
Not in rage.
In worship.
And far above the battlefield—
Something enormous moved behind the darkness covering the sky.
For one impossible second—
A massive shape shifted beyond the heavens themselves.
Watching the world below.
Watching Ren.
Then the system appeared again.
Emergency red warnings flooded his vision.
WARNINGFINAL SEAL INSTABILITY DETECTED
WARNING THE GATE IS BEGINNING TO—
The message suddenly distorted violently.
Then one final line appeared.
A line that made Ren's blood freeze completely.
SYSTEM NOTICE HUMANITY SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0.02%
The dead army charged.
And the sky began opening.