Ssssshhhhhhzzz~~
A breeze flowed through the heavy, blood-soaked air, permeating the ground where only dead bodies lay in piles—thousands, perhaps even millions of them—scattered across the brownish land now drenched in crimson.
In the midst of the devastation stood one solitary figure… A presence so commanding, so overwhelming, that it seemed to draw in all light and hope, leaving only an ominous shadow.
This menacing figure was clad in deep black armor, its surface lined with jagged, threatening edges and intricate runic engravings that pulsed faintly with an eerie crimson glow. From the armor’s many gaps, black mist spilled like living shadows, writhing and twisting.
The armor bore scars from countless battles—slashes, dents, and scorches—yet it radiated an unyielding malevolence… In one hand, it held the bloody, lifeless body of someone who had long been drained of life.
Aether’s breath caught in his throat, a shiver racing down his spine as his eyes locked onto the figure…. Fear gripped him, cold and paralyzing.
It wasn’t just the figure’s appearance that terrified him. No, it was the aura—the suffocating, oppressive darkness that emanated from it… it was far more than Isadora or anyothers he ever encountered…. The darkness clawed at his very soul, as if warning him not to take another step closer.
Though the helm obscured the figure’s face, through the narrow slits, faint glimmers of icy blue light pierced the shadows, cold and unfeeling.
SssshhhZzzzz!
Suddenly, the bloody corpse in the figure’s grasp shriveled and crumbled into nothingness, disintegrating like dry leaves caught in a windstorm, as though its time had simply expired.
“Hmm…” The figure let out a low, indifferent hum, its attention shifting slowly to Aether. Those glowing eyes seemed to pierce through him.
Aether frowned deeply…. He didn’t know who—or what—this figure was, but there was something disturbingly familiar about it. A connection he couldn’t explain, one that clawed at the edges of his consciousness.
“No. 28?” the figure murmured, its tone flat yet carrying a weight that sent a chill down Aether’s spine. Then, as if speaking to itself, it muttered again, “So… the clock strikes. My time has come… ah.”
“You can see me?” Aether asked, his voice low but tinged with confusion. “I thought I was just seeing memories again, like before.” His frown deepened as he studied the figure. That emotionless tone, those strange, detached reactions… why did they feel so unsettlingly familiar?
The figure didn’t answer immediately. Instead, it seemed to study him, its glowing eyes scanning him from head to toe…. Aether shivered under the intensity of its gaze, goosebumps prickling his skin as if he was naked before the figure!
“Hmm… Unique,” the figure finally muttered, its voice carrying an almost reluctant acknowledgment. “You are… indeed special.”
Aether blinked…. Then, like a spark igniting in his mind…. His eyes widened in horror as he whispered, “Y-You… you’re the one who killed Sandra, aren’t you?”
The words trembled out of him, laced with disbelief and dread.
It wasn’t just an accusation.
It wasn’t as though Aether made a habit of blaming others for his own actions.
But that moment—that horrifying, soul-wrenching moment when he’d lost everything, when Sandra was taken from him—he had felt something, something he couldn’t explain.
It was like his body wasn’t his own. His emotions had been a chaotic mess, his very essence restrained, yet his body moved on its own, as if controlled by someone—or something—else. At first, he thought it was the Arcane or some other entity interfering to save his ass or whatever… But now, standing here, facing this figure, hearing its words, and feeling its suffocating presence…
He knew…. This figure was the cause of it all.
Rage flared in Aether’s chest… His hands clenched into fists as he hissed through gritted teeth, “A-Are you one of the entities that controlling me?! If so why the fucking hell killed her…. I-It’s all because of you, you bastard! You’re the reason she’s gone!” He stepped forward, his voice rising with each word. “You fucking killed her!”
He lunged, his body trembling with fury, but before he could even lay a finger on the figure—
“… But weak,” the figure murmured, as if finishing a thought left hanging. The words dripped with disdain, its glowing eyes narrowing slightly… there was disgust and annoyance.
Aether froze, his lips twitching with frustration. ‘Motherfucker!’ he cursed silently, his teeth grinding audibly. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You arrogant bastard! Did I ask you to hurt her? You fucking monster, you—”
Before he could finish his outburst or strike, the figure waved an armored hand dismissively.
“So annoying,” it muttered, almost lazily, it said, “Come… in order.”
Suddenly, Aether felt a surge of energy ripple through his body, a wave so overwhelming it made his muscles tense involuntarily. Yet, despite the oppressive force weighing on him, he gritted his teeth and swung his fist, aiming to punch the fucker’s body at least once. Just as his fist was about to connect with the cold, unyielding armor—
Thud!
A deep black hand shot out with terrifying precision, catching his leg in an iron grip.
But it didn’t stop there… More hands, dark and unnatural, materialized out of thin air, twisting and curling like shadows with form, pinning his arms, shoulders, and torso. Within moments, his entire body was immobilized, held tightly in their unrelenting grasp.
“What the f—!” Aether began, but his words were abruptly cut short. The hands yanked him backward with insane force, pulling him mercilessly toward a swirling black portal that had appeared behind him as if summoned by the void itself.
“Fuuuuuuuccccckkkkk!!!” he screamed, his voice echoing in the emptiness as his body was hurled through the portal with dizzying speed.
The figure stood motionless, its glowing, ice-blue eyes following the portal as it closed and disappeared into nothingness, as though it were merely an inconvenience.
Slowly, it turned its gaze to the battlefield, taking in the sea of corpses scattered across the blood-soaked earth.
“Sigh… I don’t have much time,” it muttered, its tone cold and detached.
Reaching down, it grasped a long black spear embedded in a nearby corpse. The black spear’s surface writhed with glowing symbols, pulsating faintly as if alive with a somekind of dangerous energy… The moment the figure pulled the spear free, the lifeless body disintegrated into fine dust, scattering on the tainted wind like ash.
The figure twirled the spear effortlessly, its movements deliberate and precise, before securing the weapon on its back and called,
“Liora!”
A deafening howl shattered through the sky!
“WWWOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!”
The figure stomped the ground with a force so immense that the earth beneath cracked and trembled. Then, with an explosive burst of energy, it soared into the sky like a black comet. Another shadowy figure shot toward it at blinding speed, the two merging seamlessly in mid-air before vanishing together into the darkened horizon.
_________________
Meanwhile…
“Whaaaaattttt thheeeee….. fuuuuccckkkk!” Aether’s voice broke into a stammering mess as he hurtled through a tunnel of swirling light. The speed was incomprehensible, making the lines of light streak past him like endless, elongated stars in a distorted galaxy.
“Log!! What the hell is going on here?!” he shouted desperately, struggling in vain to gain control of his body. Every limb felt weightless, moving entirely on its own, helpless against the crushing speed of his chaotic flight.
!~Ding~!
[Initiating Iteration No. 1…]
“What?” Aether blinked in confusion.
Then—
Thud!
He landed hard on an invisible surface, Groaning, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, wincing as he rubbed his aching limbs. The swirling tunnel of light faded, replaced by a new scene that unfolded before him…
“Look, what we have here? You’ve given birth to a healthy boy, darling~” A handsome man in his thirties said with a happy smile as he held an infant in his arms.
“H-He looks just like you…” A gorgeous woman, even though she had just given birth, still radiated beauty. There was no hint of exhaustion as she tenderly touched the baby’s cheek.
Aether stood frozen, his mind blank and unable to process the vision playing out before him. This was his first life….. He recognized it immediately, the memory clear as day—or so he thought.
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Until—
“W-What’s happening? B-Baby?” The woman’s voice suddenly broke the serene moment, rising in panic as she noticed her child’s body growing cold and unresponsive in her arms.
“DOCTOR!!” the man bellowed, his joyful tone replaced by sheer terror and desperation.
Doctors rushed into the room, their faces grim as they examined the infant. One of them turned to the parents, shaking his head with a solemn expression. “I… I’m sorry.”
“…” A heavy silence fell over the room, thick with grief and disbelief.
Aether stood there, utterly stunned, his thoughts a jumbled mess as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed. His face twisted in shock, his mind repeating the same thought over and over: ‘What the fuck just happened?’
Before he could dwell on it any longer, the vision shifted abruptly.
Now, he was underwater, surrounded by an endless expanse of dark, shimmering blue. In the distance, he saw the motionless figure of a 15-year-old boy with stark white hair, suspended in the water like a marionette with its strings cut. Aether recognized the scene instantly—it was his second life….. Or at least, he thought it was.
The boy’s body jerked suddenly, spasming as though coming to life, but just as quickly, he began to choke on the surrounding water. His struggles were brief, ending as his body stilled and fell lifeless once more.
From the shadows, a massive seahorse emerged, its predatory jaws snapping around the boy’s body and swallowing him whole without hesitation.
“….”
Aether blinked, his expression frozen in a mixture of disbelief and werid feeling, ‘…. What the actual fuck is th–‘
!~Ding~!
[Initiating Iteration No. 2…]
Before Aether could even process what had just happened, the black hands reappeared, twisting out of the void like living shadows. They wrapped around his limbs with relentless force, dragging him backward once more.
Without warning, another black portal opened behind him, and he was hurled into it.
Once again, he found himself hurtling through the infinite tunnel of light, moving faster than ever before.