A moonless sky in a barren nd where silenveloped the night, not even a single sound could be heard. A man, barely in his twenties, walked with just a sti hand, using it as a guide for each of his steps.

  His clothes were tattered beyond repair, his cheeks shrunken, and his eyes were squinted as if they would close at any moment in time.

  However, despite his circumstances, he tinued wandering the endless nd. His breathing became rougher each sed that passed; even his strides were getting slower and smaller.

  Then he came to a sudden halt as a faint growl echoed across the horizon. Though blinded by the extreme darkness, he still tried to look around.

  'A fiend?' He thought, raising the sti front.

  The horrifying screech reverberated once more. It gave chills in the young man's spine, making him gulp in fear.

  His heart raced, pounding on his chest as the sound of footsteps came closer. The young man stood there in silence, while cold sweat started to form on his forehead.

  The sed, something dripped on top of his head—a sticky feeling with a foul stench—this made him step a little backward. The fear of the unknown struck him hard while his mind began to py tricks on him, imagining his death looming around the er. Then, he shook his head and cleared his thoughts; he turned around bit by bit, doing his best not to make any noise. And the moment he did, he saw a rge silhouette standing behind him. Despite the dark surroundings, he saw its eyes glowing with a crimsoaring at him like horedator looked at its prey.

  'Should I run?' he asked himself, thinking about his course of a.

  Even though he already khat it would be a useless struggle, he didn't hesitate. Without wasting another breath, he ran for his life, summoning all the strength he could muster at the moment.

  Then, the monster growled once again aered into its hunting sta charged towards him with its wide open mouth. The young man didn't dare to look back; he focused on fleeing, hoping that he would be able to outrun the dangerous creature chasing him behind.

  However, as if his fate was already decided, he stumbled rolling on the ground upon tripping on a rock.

  "Damn it!" he cussed, smming his fist onto the solid soil several times.

  The sed, he felt a cold touch, grabbing his left foot before lifting him in the open air. Then, with a loud bang, he found himself kissing the dirt as the monster smmed him on the ground.

  His left eyelid burst open while blood spttered on his face. He moved his feet, kig, trying to free himself from the monster's clutches; however, as if it found his resistannoying, the creature smmed him once more, bad forth, before tossing him in a rge boulder nearby.

  The young ma excruciating pain, blood gushing out from the back of his head. It paihe boulder with a red tint hue as he slid down on the ground.

  His eyes, partially open, stared in the endless darkness. He tried to lift his feet to stand, but having no spare strength to even move a muscle, he gave up on the idea. If not for the ck of sleep areme hunger he was in, maybe he would have suffit energy to flee.

  "I-Is this it? I don't want to die yet," he stuttered, his voice esg like a choke whisper.

  He wao scream and beg for mercy, for someoo save him from the immi danger. However, his current location was not a pce for people to wander, so being rescued would be a fleeting dream, a hopeless wish in that desote nd.

  Then, the sound of footsteps came knog on his ear once again. Without anythi for him to do, he closed his eyes.

  'I'm dead anyway. e! Let this abandoned oisfy your hu the least,' he expressed inside his mind.

  As if the fiend heard his thoughts, it rushed towards him with its mouth wide open, showg its razor-sharp teeth.

  However, a few meters before the monster reached him, a series of thunders rolled above the clouds, then a sudden fsh of white jolted downwards, disiing everything on its path. It struck the ground, creating a deep fissure iween.

  The young man was startled by the thurike, making him open his eyes in amusement. It was only a fracture of a sed, the fiend that was charging at him was caught in the i, turning the ey of it into nothingness.

  "Are you mog me?" The man excimed, shaking his head before diverting his gaze above.

  He was frustrated and wasn't thankful at all. Then he summoned his strength for o time, trying to stand up despite all the pain he had been suffering, and as soon as he did, he walked towards the fissure. He stared into it; it was dark, darker than the darkness around him. Staring at it looked like looking at a bottomless abyss.

  "At least I won't end up beien alive," he uttered with his lips so dry.

  He was deep in his thoughts when several growls came out from all dires. It was followed by the appearance of hundreds of hungry-looking eyes staring at him, their mouths drooling for his flesh and blood.

  As soon as the young man heard and saw this se, he sighed; it was the result of the fsh of lightning, attrag all the fiends present in the area.

  "To the hell with all of you," he yelled, raising his hand while g his fingers except for the middle one.

  With the thought of ending his own life, he closed his eyes a his body fall onto the fissure. Then, after a few moments, the young man found himself drenched in a pool of his own blood.

  Most of his bones were now broken, his right leg fag in an awkward dire while his left arm was scraped all the way to his elbow. But despite all of this, he felt no pain; his body was already numb from injuries.

  'Still alive, huh?' He pted.

  He didn't know how further he fell, but the darkness vanished as crystals glowing with a purple hue lightened up the pce. It was not that bright but not that dim either; if not for his current state, he would like to check those glowing pieces of rock.

  He tried moving his eyes, and upon looking at his left side, he noticed an unusual thing several meters away from him.

  "A casket?" he uttered with a dying voice.

  "The heavens are really making fun of me," he added, coughiween each word.

  A wooden white be enough for a person to fit, was in a standing position, fag the young man. On its lid was a bck cross and a note, written with blood.

  'If the world's destru... would be put in the palm of your hand, how will it end?' The young man read it through his mind.

  However, he didn't have the time to process and ahe question when, all of a sudden, he felt shivering chills, making him tremble for seds. His vision started to blur, and a mouthful of blood came out, rushing from his mouth.

  Afterward, he began vulsing, his muscles trag, making him twist in pain. Thearted catg his breath, and after exhaling a deep one, his heart stopped beating, taking all the pain away.

  Without anyone on his side, he died with his eyes still open. Then, as if heaven were being sympathetic to his death, the rain fell down, followed by a clig noise as the casket's lid opened.

  ing from the inside of the wooden box, two sets of white-colored s were hurled to the young man's corpse, ing around his arms and neck before dragging him ihe casket.

  As the rain tio pour, the deep fissure was soon filled with water, sinking everything underh and erasing any trace of the unusual phenomenon.

  . . . . .

  Two years ter, in a small towhe borders of Graphite City, several individuals were preparing for an expedition, a jouro iigate the remnants of a criminal anization.

  "Is everyone already here?" Asked an old man. The wrinkles on his face gave out how hard his life was, though his voice was still sharp and firm.

  Upon hearing him, people began to line up. They were cd with leather armor; ons were strapped behind their backs.

  "Owo, three... four, where's the other one? Lindsay, I thought we had ten people in roup," the old man excimed in anger as he faced a woman standing beside him.

  "Ahmn, I notified him about the location and the time; there's still two minutes left. Let's wait for a bit, captain," the woman replied with ess, her voice filled with respect.

  She was dressed in a red battle gown while a long, bck staff was resting on one of her palms. All the men's eyes looked at her with i. After all, her beauty was enough to captivate everyone's hearts.

  Her bck hair, braided like a waterfall, was a deep trast from her por skin, while her eyes were dazzling gold like the m sun.

  The old man looked at her and inhaled a deep breath, his left foot tapping on the pavement in a tinuous motion. Then it came to a halt when a man with hair darker than bck showed up.

  "I apologize for the wait," he said with a smile.

  There were two swords strapped ea both of his legs; however, it was not those that captured everyone's attention.

  On his right ear, there was a tiny, little white casket dangling as an earring.

  . . . . .