“Master Zero, wake up. Wake up.”
The soft, melodious chimes of the heavenly voice from MANAS, reverberated through his mind, pulling Ethan from the depths of unconsciousness. His eyelids twitched, and slowly, they began to flutter open, revealing his hazy, unfocused gaze as he gradually returned to consciousness.
He blinked several times, trying to clear the fog from his vision, and the disorienting sensation of waking in an unfamiliar place washed over him. The cold ground beneath him felt unyielding, and a faint chill lingered in the air, seeping into his bones.
Slowly, with some effort, he rubbed his eyes and pushed himself up from the ground, his body heavy with exhaustion and confusion.
“What’s this?” he murmured, his voice rough and hoarse from the recent incidents. “Am I still alive?”
His thoughts were muddled, and he struggled to piece together the fragments of his memory. The last thing he remembered was piercing pain from the back, followed by the sensation of his body being torn apart from within.
Just as panic began to set in, MANAS’s heavenly voice responded to his query, her tone as soothing as a gentle spring breeze, cutting through the haze of his mind.
“Yes, Master Zero. You are indeed alive,” she reassured him, her words a balm to his rising anxiety. “Your health is at 67%, Mana Depletion: 95.98%.”
The information sent a shiver down his spine, the reality of his situation sinking in. His health was dangerously low, his mana reserves nearly exhausted. Yet, despite the dire statistics, he was still breathing—still alive.
MANAS’s voice, which had carried the depth and wisdom of a mature woman just moments ago, now shifted, becoming light and youthful, almost playful, as if a different persona had taken over.
***
“Huh? Wait a sec…” Ethan was scared out of his wits upon realising the sudden ethereal voice echoing in his head. He didn’t realise it at first. He thought it must some kind of system notification. However, her melodies voice told the truth.
“W-who are you?” he asked cautiously, “What are you doing in my head?”
A moment later, a live projection appeared before him—a small pixie, no more than a few centimeters tall, floating gracefully in the air. Her translucent wings shimmered with an ethereal light as she hovered in place.
“Master Zero, I am MANAS, your Advanced UI assistant. My mission is to serve you whole heartily. I will assist you in achieving anything you want,” she said solemnly, her tiny figure exuding a surprising sense of authority.
“MANAS? That’s a strange name you’ve got there. Wait… Did you just call me Master Zero?” Ethan’s brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to make sense of the situation. “Did I get reincarnated again?”
Panic surged through him as he hurriedly touched his face and then ran his hands over his body, searching for any signs that he might have been reborn in a new form. He needed to confirm if he was still himself or if something drastic had changed.
But, to his relief, he realized that his body was mostly the same—his familiar features intact. However, something felt different, something foreign. He reached up and touched the top of his head, where he found something strong and long protruding from his skull.
“What the…?” he whispered, his heart pounding. His fingers traced the strange appendages until he realized what they were—horns. Wavy-shaped, with pointed sharp tips.
“Ah, what’s this? A pair of horns? This is unacceptable,” he muttered in frustration, his voice laced with anger and disbelief.
He could accept the existence of a strange AI entity like MANAS, but having horns like a demon was too much. He had always hated demons, and the thought of suddenly being one of them made his stomach churn with nausea.
As Ethan struggled to calm himself, MANAS hovered nearby, her delicate features showing a hint of concern. She was about to speak, but suddenly, the sky above them began to change in a way that neither of them could ignore.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
The world roared as the sky darkened, thick shadows of storm clouds gathering ominously above. Thunderbolts crackled and flashed, illuminating the ominous scene with bursts of blinding light. It was as if an apocalypse had suddenly descended upon them, the atmosphere charged with a terrifying energy that made the air itself feel heavy.
Ethan looked up, his new horns forgotten for the moment, as a sense of dread washed over him. “What now?”
He asked MANAS , “Do you have any answers, MANAS? You said you’re an advanced intelligent entity, right?”
He communicated through mental communication.
MANAS, her ethereal form shimmering slightly, responded with a hint of embarrassment, “I’m sorry, Master Zero. I don’t have the proper data yet. I could have provided more accurate information if only my levels were higher.”
Ethan sighed in frustration, “Oh, right. You aren’t some omnipotent being, are you? I forgot.”
Before they could discuss further, an ear-splitting roar shattered the air, drawing their attention skyward. The voice, deep and resonant, echoed through the city with a bone-chilling intensity.
“WH-WHO? WHO DARES TO KILL MY SON? MY SON!”
“YOU PUNY HUMANS, YOU DARE TO LAY YOUR FILTHY HANDS ON MY SON!”
“ROAR! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!”
A nightmarish vision filled the sky as a colossal demonic creature manifested above them. Its immense figure was grotesque, swollen beyond natural proportions, and its skin seemed to ripple with an unnatural energy.
The creature’s eyes glowed with a fierce, malevolent light, and its mouth, gaping wide like a yawning chasm, was filled with rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth.
The beast’s swollen form resembled a grotesque sun, its entire body pulsating with dark, chaotic energy as if it had consumed the very essence of the sky. The sight was both mesmerizing and horrifying, the sheer scale of its presence overwhelming.
“Oh my god!” Ethan exclaimed as he became horrified.
“Huala… Huala…”
From the gluttonous mouth of the creature, a dark, swirling vortex emerged, its edges crackling with raw, destructive power. The mouth of the beast was so enormous that it could easily engulf an entire mountain ranges. As the vortex expanded, it began to suck in everything within its reach, pulling the city into its deadly embrace.
Buildings, streets, and landmarks were torn apart and swallowed by the monstrous force. The black hole-like maw of the creature spewed forth a relentless torrent of destruction, consuming the city from the outer banks inward.
The once-proud city walls crumbled under the immense pressure, the commoner districts and noble quarters alike were reduced to rubble.
Even the City Lord’s Mansion, once a symbol of authority and stability, was engulfed in the catastrophic onslaught.
The sky above the city darkened further, with ominous clouds swirling around the demonic entity, casting an eerie, foreboding light over the devastation below. The air was thick with the acrid stench of destruction, and the ground trembled violently as the city succumbed to the creature’s wrath.
—
“N-No…”
Ethan stared in horror at the apocalyptic scene unfolding before him.
“How did it come to this? Just why?”
For a moment, he was paralyzed, his mind struggling to comprehend the scale of the destruction. Then, driven by a desperate need to save those he cared about, he charged toward the campsite, where Emily, Aunt Greta, Iris, her family, and his friends—Cedric and Marcus’s family—were.
“Master, you shouldn’t go… There is a 99.99% chance of failure,” MANAS warned urgently, her voice filled with concern.
Ignoring the warning, Ethan pushed forward, his heart pounding with anxiety. Every step felt like a struggle as he raced toward the campsite, hoping against hope that he could reach them in time.
But, is it even possible?
“Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” The sound of devouring became intense, as it targeted the campsite next.
“No… damn it!”
Ethan shouted in despair, tears mingling with blood as he watched the campsite being sucked into the abyss in the blink of an eye. His heart seemed to stop, his pulse racing uncontrollably. He shook uncontrollably, the faces of his loved ones flashing before his eyes—now all gone.
“What about Aria?” Ethan’s voice wavered as he turned to look at the Noble’s district, but saw nothing but devastation.
The entire area of Arcadia City, stretching 8 to 10 kilometers, had been consumed, leaving only a hollow expanse of dark, ominous radiation. The once-bustling city was now a desolate wasteland, the remnants of its former glory swallowed by the monstrous force.
In that moment, Ethan’s heart sank into a void of darkness. The future he envisioned was now shrouded in sorrow and loneliness, a bleak landscape devoid of hope. He had nothing left anymore.
“Master, run!” MANAS urged, her voice trembling with urgency.
Ethan, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction and the loss, could only stumble backward, his mind reeling as the full weight of his grief and despair pressed down on him. The world around him had turned into a nightmare, and all he could do was try to escape the all-encompassing darkness that had claimed everything he once held dear.
MANAS was unable to take control of Ethan’s body without his permission, and her attempts to move him to safety failed. Realizing the gravity of the situation, she quickly employed her Prediction ability to find a viable countermeasure.
To her dismay, the best course of action was to—do nothing. It sounded bizarre, but it offered the highest chance of survival she predicted.
Just as the situation seemed dire, a seductive succubus emerged from the void, followed by a group of royal-blood demons. Her black wings unfurled as she moved with urgency towards Ethan. In her hands, she held a strange disk like ancient artifact adorned with intricate runes.
Without hesitation, she tossed the artifact into the air. It spun and glowed with an otherworldly light, opening a shimmering portal to a dark, unknown realm.
“Swoosh!”
Pulling Ethan forcefully, she and others hurriedly moved toward the portal, just as the devouring force of the demonic creature reached the edge of their location.
The devouring demonic creature, its rage evident, watched their departure with a wrathful glare. Its eyes burned with fury as it roared in anger, “YOU TRAITORS! YOU’RE DEAD!”
The creature’s voice echoed through the void as it disappeared quickly, its rage fading into the darkness that enveloped the city.
Yeah, it was a bit rushed.. But not all of them are dead..
