4055 Years After the Catastrophe
In the depths of the shattered forest, a body, riven with wounds, lay on the ground.
Adam… the man who had wiped out five continents with cold blood, was completely spent. Yet his face bore a cold smile—not the smile of a victor, but the smile of a man who had sown destruction to his last breath.
Nearby stood Carlos, "the world's champion," with black hair and golden eyes, and beside him five of his companions and three women worn out from battle. Among them were Adam's sister, Carlos's wife's sister—still standing despite her bleeding—and the father of Carlos's wife, watching in heavy silence.
Carlos broke the silence with a deep voice: "How does death feel, Adam? Do you now taste the bitterness of those who suffered by your hands? Do you regret the evil you committed?"
Adam laughed in short bursts as he coughed up blood: "Regret? Hahaha… Me? Regret?"
His sister stepped forward with trembling steps, her voice shaking with anger: "I hate myself for being your sister… If you had never been born among us, we wouldn't be in this ruin!"
Adam smiled with cold sarcasm, his eyes gleaming with contempt: "And who are you? Just one of the victims?"
Her eyes flamed with murderous intent that frightened even Carlos's companions, who stepped back a moment at such fury. But Adam continued to provoke, turning directly toward Carlos. Before Carlos could move, the blue-haired woman cut in with a steady voice: "We should leave. It's enough to declare that Adam Grefn fell by your hand. That will boost your credibility and make succession smoother."
The black-haired woman nodded in agreement, leaning on the white-haired man: "You're right. I shouldn't humiliate myself by thinking I was ever tied to that monster."
Carlos turned to leave, but Adam's mocking voice pierced the air: "Carlos… will you leave me? Or will you rush to learn how your little daughter died?"
Carlos froze in place; his face changed completely, a murderous aura rising until it almost choked everyone.
Adam continued with a mad smile: "Your poor wife tried to save her… she screamed, she begged… before I slit her throat in front of your daughter. Ah, Carlos, her scent still clings to my hands!"
The air trembled with the fury that burst from Carlos. He grabbed his sword's hilt and stepped forward, but his companions shoved themselves between them: "Carlos! Don't! This could be a trap!"
Carlos's wife's sister gripped his arm, her eyes drowning in tears: "Please… don't give him what he wants!"
Even the father-in-law stood as a barrier before him, his voice stern: "Control yourself! You're threatening everything we fought for!"
But Carlos's aura kept swelling, and the forest itself seemed about to be crushed beneath it. And Adam… laughed. A laugh dripping with blood.
Suddenly, a powerful fist struck Carlos's face and sent him sprawling. The assailant was the wife's father—his eyes full of sternness despite the trembling.
The mother cried out in a hoarse voice: "You don't understand! It's a trap… don't be rash!"
Carlos raised his head; blood flowed from his mouth, but his face was wetter with tears than with wounds. Heavy tears fell to the earth and mixed with the blood. "My daughter… my wife… why? Why wasn't I there?!"
His muffled cries pierced the chests of those around him, heavier than any sword. And from afar… Adam laughed, feeding on his breaking.
The wife's father approached, the man who had lost everything to Adam, and gripped Carlos's shoulder firmly: "Adam doesn't want your death now… he wants to turn you into a blind beast. Don't give him what he wants!"
The words were heavy as a rock. Carlos shuddered, his tears choking his voice. But the father continued, his voice dripping with sorrow: "He took my whole family… I have left only my little daughter… and you. If you fall, he will swallow us with him."
A silence reigned for a moment… until Adam's laugh tore it apart—the laugh that shredded the stillness.
But the father, the second-cleverest man of this era after Adam, lifted his eyes and said with deadly calm: "I will not fall into his trap again… and I will not let him take the last of what remains to me."
Then they left him behind—Adam lying on the ground, staring at the sky.
He closed his eyes and whispered: "Forgive me… I couldn't keep my promise."
A sly smile curled his lips: "Then… cut off my head, let my life end… temporarily."
And so, with his last breath, the celestial circles beneath his body ignited, glowing blue.
[Activation conditions met — One billion souls consumed]
[Transferring consciousness to the origin point… loading]
His body began to disintegrate into particles of light, and the voices of his victims poured into his being like a flood. Yet he smiled coldly: "Yes… this is what I want. I will return… and I will burn this world again."
But among all the voices he heard a different call…
The voice of a little, innocent girl: "Daddy… will you leave me again?"
His heart trembled. In the darkness her image appeared… her black hair flying, her violet eyes shining, and beside her a disfigured woman wearing a black mask.
He murmured in a hoarse voice: "Forgive me… this time, I will not leave you."
[Time rewinds: 4055 → 4054 → …]
[Activated: A new birth]
And in the final moment, before the darkness swallowed him, the last thing Adam saw was his daughter's smile… and his wife's face in the light.