The Eternal Echoes of the Void – Fragment I
Summary of Volume I – The Shadow and the Flame
Betrayed by his own and consumed by war, Ryo found refuge in the Void — a space beyond time, where a hundred years of isolation passed as a single breath for the living world.
From that emptiness, he returned changed: stronger… yet more alone than ever.
Throughout his journey, he faced fear, hatred, and the weight of a power he did not yet understand.
Guided by Gabriel's voice, he discovered that the true enemy did not come from the Void, but from the corrupted hearts of men.
And when he chose not to flee, but to understand… the world itself began to change.
His battle ended in flames, yet the peace he brought to the village was only a fragile pause.
For beyond the mountains, the forgotten forces of the world were already awakening.
---
Prologue – Dawn of the Void
Dawn rose upon a world still scarred by war.
The ashes had settled, but the sky still carried the color of wounds.
Across scorched plains and mist-shrouded mountains, a lone figure walked.
Ryo.
The wind lifted his cloak, scattering the dust of a past he refused to carry.
Each step took him farther from the village, from Gabriel, and from everything he had tried to understand.
The Void within him remained silent — not gone, but dormant, like a beast waiting for its moment to awaken.
He had no goal, no master.
Only a single phrase carved into his memory:
> "If the world rejects peace… then I will seek it where no one has ever dared to look."
His gaze wandered toward the horizon, where lightning danced behind the clouds.
It was said that in those forgotten lands, ancient beings had awakened —
legendary beasts, spirits from before time, entities whose names even kings feared to speak.
Their whispers moved with the wind — prayers and threats entwined.
A new balance was being born, fragile and uncertain.
And without knowing it, Ryo had just crossed its threshold.
He stopped upon a solitary hill, watching the pale light of morning slide across the ruins of the world.
Then, in a low voice, he murmured:
> "Perhaps peace doesn't exist…
but at least, I'll find out why."
The wind answered in silence.
And Ryo walked on.
Toward the unknown.
Toward the legends.
Toward the beginning of the Fragment of the Void.